


My Airport Mistake

by Kurogom



Category: Original Work
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29237178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kurogom/pseuds/Kurogom
Summary: At her work place, May refused to give her information out to a handsome young man. Who knew he would persistently chase after her. When they meet again, a misunderstanding occurs which led to May being kidnapped and transported to another world. In this mysterious world of magic and mystical beings, is it truly a misunderstanding? Does she really want to return home or stay there and explore this newfound place?
Kudos: 1





	1. Run I

A snowstorm heavily came down in the afternoon and has yet to ease off. Many flights are delayed. The boarding lobby, full of stranded people waiting for their delayed flights, murmuring of unhappiness could be heard. Staff members passed blankets to those who wanted one. The lobby was chilly despite the many people around.  
Eleven thirty on the dot, two girls who are working the evening shift at Roy’s Easy Eats, are finally getting ready to go home. Due to the delay and last minute customers, they ended up closing an hour later. May, a few years older than Windy, redid her bun as she was waiting for Windy to finish her area.  
“Hey May, sure you can take me home? My folks said they'll be here in about two hours,” Windy asked.  
“Yeah, it's fine. It's on my way home anyway,” May responded. She pushed her baby hair back behind her ears and rubbed her eyes. The contacts in her eyes are getting uncomfortable.  
“Okay. Thanks!” Windy said as she turned around and went to the back.  
May watched a new group of business folks arrive at the crowded lobby. It's past eleven o'clock so most stores are closed now. All the restaurants are closed at the airport around 10 pm. No food except the retails for snacks. Much pity to be taken to the new arrivals.  
“Windy, did you finish locking up?” May asked as she watched the new group of people settle down in front of them. A couple of young people moved out of their seats for the new arrivals. A mother and daughter sat down.  
“Yeah, just grabbing my stuff now,” Windy said.  
Once Windy came up front, May grabbed her bag and they headed out. Little murmurs of dissatisfaction could be heard still. Some kids are crying and complaining somewhere.  
“Mommy, I'm hungry!” The little girl who recently joined the boarding queue said loudly.  
“All the restaurants are closed now, honey. Here is a snack bar, eat it and then go to sleep,” the mother said. She was dressed in a navy business suit. Her looks and figure could rival that of a top class fashion model. Her daughter is cute as well. Hard to believe they were normal civilians and not some model family.  
“But I don't like the snack bars! They are nasty!” the little girl wailed.  
May looked at them with pity. ‘Should I give them this? It is supposed to be my dinner. I'm going home anyways… I can eat later. They have nowhere to go,’ May thought. She walked up to the mother and daughter and said, “Hello. I couldn't help overhearing but would you like to have this? It's a few hours old and cold now but it should fill you up.” She handed out her take out box.  
The mother and daughter looked up in surprise. “Oh no, it's your dinner. We can't just take it from you. You just got off work too. Thank you though,” the mother said. The daughter tugged at her mother signaling she wanted the food.  
“I'm going home anyways, and I can cook something once I get back. There's no restaurant open right now and probably won't for another 7 or 8 hours. She's hungry too. Take it, I don't mind,” May said and smiled at them.  
The mother looked at her daughter for a bit. She sighed and took the take out box. “Thank you,” she said with a warm smile. The little girl's eyes beamed as she looked expectantly at the box.  
“Oh! I have water too. It's unopened as well. Here you go,” May flipped her bag around to the front and took out two water bottles. She handed them to the family and turned to leave.  
“Thank you very much!” the mother and daughter said as she walked away. She nodded at them and turned around and left with Windy.  
“You gave away your food? You haven't eaten since you got in today,” Windy said with concern.  
“Yeah, but it's cool. I'm headed home anyways and I can always eat something on the way. They won't be able to eat if they stay here. A night without food won't kill me. I just felt bad for them,” May responded.  
“Are there any fast foods on your way home?” Windy asked.  
May thought for a moment before responding, “Hmm. I don't know. I'm not used to the route yet so I don't really pay attention to my surroundings. I know there are a few but I don't know if they open this late. It's fine though.”  
“If you say so,” Windy said as she checked her phone.  
They walked a bit before someone stopped them. A young tan colored man in a black suit asked, “Excuse me miss, I don't mean to bother you but my boss saw what you did for that family over there and would like to thank you on their behalf. May I have your contact information?”  
May looked at the man, turned to the family who was eating the food she gave them, and then turned back to the man, “Do you guys know them?”  
“Yes, they are part of the business trip we took. She is our secretary. Due to circumstances she had to take her daughter with her,” he responded.  
“Oh okay. Well, no worries. I just felt bad for the little girl so it's all good. Have a safe travel back!” she said and turned to leave with Windy. ‘It really isn't a big deal.’ May thought to herself.  
The man stopped her again, “please leave your name and number. My boss wants to thank you personally.”  
“Where is your boss?” May asked. This guy is not leaving her alone.  
“The man in the black suit by the wall,” he turned and pointed to the opposite wall where a tall guy was standing and looking at them.  
Both Windy and May turned their heads to see. He seems young and handsome but neither could make out any details. It was somewhat dark where he was standing and he wore a black suit to match the lighting. Is he a manager or something? An evil idea popped into May’s head.  
“Fine. Do you have paper and pen?” she gave in with a sigh.  
“Yes!” The man handed her a memo pad and a pen from his inside pocket. “Here you go.”  
“I just got a new number so give me a moment. I'll be right back.” May took the paper and pen and went towards the closest counter. She took out her phone from the back of her pocket and opened up the dial pad. A creepy smile appeared on her face. ‘33x8xx77x0. K. Done. Hehehe. I'm so smart!’ She went back to where Windy and the man were and returned the man his pad and pen back with a straight face. “Here you go. Have a goodnight,” she smiled and grabbed Windy to leave quickly.  
“Thank you! Have a goodnight!” he bowed as the two girls left.  
‘Asian? Only Asians really bow like that but I can’t tell if he is or not. It's whatever. I'm Asian too,’ she thought to herself.  
“Did you really give them your info? He was very pushy. I wouldn't have,” Windy said with disgust.  
“Nah. I gave them my nickname and said ‘don't worry about it’. Hahaha,” she responded and turned to look in the direction the underling was in. ‘Hmm? Why are there three of them? Why are they headed this way again? Did they figure it out already?!’ Her heart sank. ‘I'm doomed!’ She grabbed Windy's arm and pulled her forward hard, “hurry, let's get to the car!”  
“Ow! What happened?!” Windy exclaimed as she looked up from her phone but stepped forward quickly as well.  
May looked back again and saw that the men were getting closer. ‘Darn these short legs!’ she thought to herself. “I'll explain later! For now, run!” They took off as fast as they could to the exit.  
“Wait!” The girls heard the men shouting behind them. May knew they started to run as well because she could hear heavy footsteps behind them getting closer. ‘May, what have you done? Who did you offend?!’ After some turns to get out of the building, May scrambled through her bag for her keys. Once she had the keys in her hand, she pulled Windy towards the left side of the car lot. Windy was about to go right since May usually parked on the right side. May unlocked the car with the remote key and started her engine. She pulled out quickly after a quick glance around her for other vehicles. Luckily not a lot of cars were nearby either and headed for the exit. There was a car in front of them and several behind them once they arrived at the exit.  
Windy looked back and saw the men looking around for them. Windy was huffing and puffing, “what was that?! What did you write on the paper that offended some mafia to come after us?!”  
“I just wrote my name and don't worry about it! Kinda. Hahaha,” May responded out of breath.  
“Don't 'hahaha’ me! What did you really write?” Windy glared at her while trying to catch her breath.  
She responded sheepishly, “I wrote 'Tarus but 'don't worry’, in number form, about it’. You have to see to understand. I don't remember the numbers I used for it. But if anyone asks about what happened or about me, don't say anything. I'm honestly scared. Hahaha.”  
Windy looked at her in disbelief and said in despair, “You screwed up big time! They know how I look. I can't deny anything about this if they come and ask me. I work tomorrow afternoon too! Argh! I hate you so much right now.”  
“Please! Think of this as payment for all the times I took you home! Please!” May begged as she continued to drive them home.  
“Fine. But if things get difficult, I'm selling you out!” she puffed.  
“Deal! Thanks!” May smiled and laughed at the whole situation while internally dying. ‘I should quit or just not go to work for a week or so. I need money. I'll just tell the boss something urgent came up and not go to work for a week. They should be gone by then. Right?’ 

May woke up from a sudden ringtone. ‘It's 7:43 am.’ “Hello? Why are you calling so early, Tin?” she answered groggily.  
“The hell happened yesterday, May?! Some guys in suits were waiting at the front like they are about to hunt down someone. I asked if they needed help and they said that they're looking for a girl who worked here last night with a bun. Said they needed to talk to her. I asked for more details and they said you told them your name is “Tarus”. I told them you were off today and tomorrow. What did you do??” he asked with concern.  
May got up quickly from her bed at the mention of the men in tuxes. Her heart sank more than the night before but started to beat twice as fast. “Um, haha. I'm in trouble, Tin. Thanks for not selling me out. I don't know who they are but they asked for my info and I gave them some fake info and I guess they realized it super quick and so I ran from them. All a very scary misunderstanding. Haha. Windy knows what happened. She can tell you more details when she comes in. Imma be out for a week to hide. That okay?”  
“Sighhhhh. Okay. But if things get tough and the law gets involved, we may not have a choice, understand? They looked like serious business thugs,” he reluctantly responded.  
“Yeah, I understand. If anything, I may have to quit. In fact, I will. I am quitting today. That way you can just say I no longer work there and don't know where I've gone. You also can't give out employee's info anyways, so done deal! Yeah?” May excitedly said.  
“That's for the best but we're already short on staff. You're our Friday and Saturday night closer,” Tin plundered.  
“I'll come back once things settle down. Maybe in a month or two. Okay? Just say I don't work there anymore but don't let them know I'm coming back later. You're the store manager so you get the final say,” she urged.  
“Fine! I give you a month to come back!” he said in disappointment.  
“Two months! Just in case! It may be sooner but at most two months!”  
“Okay. Be safe and keep in touch. I'll let you know if they come back.”  
“Thanks!” May ended the call and laid out on her bed. She looked at the ceiling with a blank mind. ‘What did I do? What do I do? Have to tell my roommates first so they can cover up if needed; and just to give them a heads up if I go missing. Hahaha. Scary…’  
The men in tuxes showed up every day after that for a week. May’s managers informed them that she had quit, and by law, they could not give out employee's information. The men could still be seen sometimes throughout the month on random days keeping watch in case she came back for something. Tin is a really good manager. He told her she shouldn't come back at all since it seemed like a dangerous place for her. May agreed and left officially.  
May informed her roommates, Rune, Crane, and Tess, about the situation shortly after. They kept scolding her for being mischievous and that she deserved it, but also told her to be careful. She only responded like she usually does - “always!” with a big smile.


	2. Run II

It's been half a year since then but luck is just not on May’s side. In her twenty-two years of life, she has never been more afraid of any men in suits everywhere and anywhere she went. Her roommates kept telling her she is paranoid but they just don’t understand. It is really scary when someone is actively hunting you down, and it didn’t seem like the normal kind of mafia either. They felt different, like they were from another world. May couldn't explain this feeling to anyone. It just feels… different. Maybe she is paranoid and hoping something would happen. End of the world or alien invasion. Whatever it is, she couldn’t tell if they were smart or dumb for continuing to watch the one location she was last seen at. Technology these days could definitely help locate her, but either way, she didn’t want them finding her anyways.   
May had not accepted any part time jobs since. She focused solely on her full time job in hopes of staying in one location will minimize her contact with those people. Her job required her to travel to certain sites often but she knew they wouldn’t be there. She knows the people and would be fine. Due to her cowardliness, she stays at home everyday, causing mischief for her roommates. She would only go out alone if she’s jogging, but if it’s shopping, she had to be with her roommates. Her friends called her a stubborn mule but she would only reply that she is lazy and a scaredy cat.   
May’s roommates decided to take her to an amusement park to cheer her up and get her out of the house. It is a few hours drive away from where they live so she agreed and went. The amusement park is well known for being family friendly and very enjoyable by children and adults. They had many roller coasters and water slides. The food was expensive but that was for anywhere in a park like this. Everything looked nice and fun. May was genuinely happy she came after the sight of the roller coasters and told her roommates that it will be a good day today and nothing will happen here!  
Soon as she entered the park and walked out of the entrance area to an open space that split into three ways, she could smell the sweet smell of a carnival - cotton candy in the air along with delicious fried food. Right in the center is the food area, the left side looked like it was more for games while the right seems to be more rides.   
She couldn’t help but take notice of a group of people in the center of the food area. Four men in black suits in this blazing hot weather are on guard for a group of people in the middle of them chatting away by the food stalls. Some serious, others laughing. She could see a very pretty young woman in the center who looked familiar but couldn’t get her thoughts together to where she has seen the lady. Suddenly a little girl shot past the talking adults along with two other kids and May recognized the child immediately. It’s the mother and daughter from six months ago!  
May turned pale and quickly turned her body around. “Hey, never mind, let's go back home. I don't want to be here after all,” she said to her roommates nervously.   
“What? Why? We just got here and you were so happy earlier,” Rune asked.   
Crane added, “May, you look kinda pale. You alright?”  
“Remember what happened back in January? You see those people over there? That's them.” All three turned to look. “Not all at once! You'll give me away!” she quietly said, panicking.   
“This is such a waste of money though.” Tess tossed her ticket in the air. “The tickets here aren't cheap and we haven't been here either! They probably won't even recognize you. You had your work uniform on and your hair was up in a bun.”   
The other girls looked at her and agreed. May glanced back at the group. ‘I have my glasses on, my bangs are longer now, my hair is in a ponytail. I should be okay.’ She thought to herself. “Fine, we can stay. I hope. Do any of you guys have makeup to change my face a bit?” she asked.   
No one brought their makeup.   
“You'll be fine. It might be better if you have your hair down though,” suggested Crane.   
“It's too hot. I'm already dying with my ponytail,” she responded. “Let's go somewhere far from them.”  
They took the right trail and went towards the roller coasters. After several hours of playing around and then eating, they finally relaxed a bit.  
‘Whew! So far it's going okay. It's fun being here but I'm so worried about being found out that I'm not having as much fun. The park closes in a few hours. Almost time to go. Just hang in there a little more May!’ May encouraged herself.   
Tess, Crane, and Rune went to get in line for a ride nearby. She decided to sit this one out since she had to use the bathroom. She waited for them at the entrance of the ride when a little girl walked in front of her crying softly. She's been walking back and forth for awhile now. ‘Is she lost?’ May pondered.   
May approached the kid and asked, “Hey little girl, are you lost?”   
The little girl stopped and looked up. She is so cute and those eyes are just crying for help, but she's the secretary's little girl!! May just put herself into a trap! ‘Oh my god! Why is it her of all people?!!’ She smiled as best she could and asked, “Where is your mommy?”  
The little girl looked at her a bit longer and reached up to her face. May looked at her in a confused daze. Before May knew it, the little girl pulled off her glasses! “Hey! You can’t just pull someone's glasses off! I can't see if you do that!” May exclaimed.   
The little girl nodded after another moment passed of her staring at May. May awkwardly grabbed her glasses back. ‘That scared me. Does she recognize me? I hope not.’   
“So where was the last time you saw your parents?” May asked again.   
“She said to wait here but I saw some ducks and followed them and now I don't see mommy!” she said and started to cry again at the end.   
“Shh, it's okay. I'll help you look for her or take you to someone who can help, okay?” May hushed the little girl.   
She nodded her head.   
“Do you know what she was wearing?” May pretended to ask like she didn't know. The little girl shook her head. “I never paid attention either when I was little. If I asked myself what I am wearing today, I wouldn't know either. Let's go to that lady over there. She's the security guard for this place. She can help.” May took the little girl's hand and walked over to the security guard.   
“Hello Miss. This little girl is lost, but she doesn't know what her mother wore and said she was around here when she last saw her mom. Can you help her?” May asked and pulled the girl forward gently.   
“Yes, I can. Can you tell me your name?” she asked the little girl.   
“Mary,” she said quietly.  
“Hello Mary. What is your mom's name?” the guard continued to ask questions.   
“Blake.”  
“Do you know her phone number?” Mary nodded. “Can you give it to me?” She shook her head. “If I give you my phone, can you dial it in?” She nodded again.   
‘I guess she knows by muscle memory.’ May looked around to see if she could find any of the men in suits or her mom. Spotted! They seem to be searching for someone.   
“Miss, those people may know her. They seem to be searching for someone,” May tapped the security guard's shoulder before Mary could finish typing her mother's phone number onto the phone. They both looked in the direction she pointed. Mary pulled May’s hand and said, “They work with mommy!”  
“Do you know those people?” the security guard asked to confirm.   
Mary nodded and pulled May’s hand forward again. May didn't move. Mary looked up in confusion.   
“This security guard will take you to them. I have to go and find my friends. They are lost too. Be nice to the lady okay? And don't get lost again, okay?” May said.   
Mary paused for a moment. She looked at the security guard and then back at her. “Mommy's friends can help you look for your friends,” she said, disheartened. She wanted May to go with her.   
“Thanks but it'll be okay. We're big kids now and it's easier to find someone bigger than someone small like you. Go on and go to your mom.” May pushed her hand to the security guard. She reluctantly let go of her hand and took the security guard's. May whispered to the guard before they left, “please don't mention you saw me.” The guard looked a bit taken aback but nodded her head. May turned around and quickly left the scene. She made a sharp turn and bumped into someone.   
“Ah, sorry!” She didn't look up, instead fixed her glasses that were moved out of place and only tried to get to the other side of this person to get away. Her arm was then suddenly grabbed and jerked so hard that her body swung to face the rude person grabbing her. May’s heart dropped. She has never met him before but she knew right away she was in trouble.


	3. Run III

It was a tall man in a dark blue suit. His aura was intimidating. His eyes were dark and cold, his face structure was that perfect shape of a handsome man, and his fluffy jet black hair was pulled back slicked. It looked like it was all naturally held without any gel or hairspray. It was hard to imagine such a handsome man like him could be at an amusement park.   
“Uh, excuse me sir, can you let me go? You're hurting me,” May shyly asked, avoiding eye contact. He didn't say anything nor did he loosen his grip. After a moment, May looked up to see why this man had not responded to anything. His eyes pierced her like a sword. “Sir?” She questioned while trying to get loose from him with help from her other hand. ‘What a strong grip!’ She struggled to get loose. After another moment passed and her strength started to fade, another man in a black suit appeared. ‘It's the same guy from last time!’ May held her gasp. She turned her head away quickly still trying to get out of this unknown man's grip.   
“Drone, does she look familiar to you?” He grabbed her chin and turned it to face the man. The man stared at her for a bit. May’s heart was beating so fast she swears they could hear it. Each second felt like a hundred pounds crushed her chest, ready to burst with each beat.   
“Hmm. I don't recognize her but she does seem familiar. Why do you ask, Boss?” he finally responded after a few moments.   
May was sweating like crazy. “Please let me go! I already apologized for bumping into you!” she desperately begged.   
“Her voice sounds familiar as well!” the man said out loud suddenly.   
‘Crap!’   
The boss then took off May’s glasses with his other hand and with the same hand, pulled her bangs back.   
“Ah! It's the worker who gave us the wrong information that one time!” the man exclaimed.   
‘Shoot. I'm dead.’   
“I'm sorry? I think this is our first time meeting. Please let me go,” she pretended not to know them while still struggling to break free.   
“No way I am mistaking her for someone else, Boss. She looks just like the girl from all the other girls we found.”  
‘You were seriously still looking for me?!’  
“Haha. I'm sorry but you really have the wrong person. Let me go,” May said again.   
“Think you can lie and get away with it? You made me look like a fool.” The boss said angrily to her face.   
‘I need to do something and escape!’ She thought. “Ah, well, maybe the girl made a mistake or something? Haha,” May said as his grip tightened. ‘I'm done for anyways! Drastic measures must be taken if I want to leave first!’ “Okay, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that. Really though, please let me go!” she begged again while pulling herself away. His silence only meant that he wasn't going to let her go. She took a deep breath and straightened herself. In a matter of seconds, she kicked him as hard as she could between his legs and once his grip loosened just a bit, she broke her arm free and kneed his stomach for extra security. The guard stared in shock. ‘Better leave before they realized what just happened.’ She quickly sprinted away from there.   
May grabbed her phone from her back pocket and quickly dialed Rune's number. ‘Pick up the phone, pick up the phone!’  
*Click* “May? Where have you been?” she answered.   
“No time to explain. We have to leave. Now! Where are you guys?” May quickly said through puffs.   
“What? What happened? Why are you so out of breath? We're by the snake ride. Where are you?” she responded.   
“I don't know where that is but let's meet by the front entrance where we came through! We have to go now!”   
“Stop that girl!” Someone shouted behind her. May looked back and saw three men running in her direction. ‘Oh Lord!’  
“May, are you running away from someone? Did those men notice you?” Crane's voice came through from the phone.   
“Leave. NOW!!!” she shouted at them and ended the call. ‘Those guys are fast!’  
From a nearby security guard, she heard “All units, capture a young woman in a blue sweater, wears glasses, and have a long ponytail at all costs. Repeat…”  
‘Ahh. Three men in black chasing me is enough! I don't need a whole crew!’ She ran into the grapevine yard. May took off her sweater, flipped it inside out, tied it to her waist, took down her hair, and took off her glasses. ‘Now they'll have a harder time finding me. I should throw away this sweater. Who wears a sweater in the middle of summer anyways? Can’t really see though… so blurry. I better put my glasses back on for the time being.’  
“Mommy, I'm cold!” a little kid said not far from her. ‘Perfect!’ She took her sweater off her waist and flipped it back and went over to the kid.  
“Would you like to wear my sweater then? You can have it,” she handed it to the kid and left before they could say anything.   
At the end of the grapevine yard, she found a map. She is two rides away from the front entrance but the security office is right in the middle between where she is at and where the exit is.   
*Buzz buzz* “Hey Tess, what's up?” May picked up the phone.  
“Where are you? We're at the entrance right now. These security guards are running like crazy chasing every girl with long black hair or wearing a sweater.”  
“Damn. I'm at the grapevine yard. It's not far from there but the security office is right in the middle and I have to pass through it to get to you guys. Go ahead and get to the car. I will have to find another route.”  
“Just go through it. You took your glasses and sweater off right? They won't notice.” Tess said confidently.   
"Okay. Let's hope so. Here I go.” She took off her glasses and walked past several security guards with no issue. Went through the office and got stopped once but they let her go and apologized. ‘Yes!’ Once the office was out of sight, she started to run to the entrance only to quickly make a u-turn. ‘Why are those guys there?!’ Two blurry men in black were standing guard at the entrance verifying all who enter and leave. She grabbed her phone and called Tess.   
"Hey! They have two of the men in black at the entrance, right?! I can fool the park's security guards but not them! What do we do?" She asked quietly.   
“Ah, umm… We'll distract them! We'll ask for help and then you slip while their attention is away!” Tess said.   
“Okay!” May put her glasses back on again and watched as her roommates walked up to the two guards laughing when all of a sudden Rune tripped in front of one of them. She grabbed his arm and pulled him down with her, thus he grabbed her and steadied her. He's distracted! Crane went over to the other guard and started to flirt with him. He is a good guard, he kept looking away but also kept glancing back at her. Distraction number 2! Got it! The girls pulled their attention to one direction. May took off her glasses and ran to the side of a group of teenagers who were also exiting next to them. Once at the top, in her haste to leave, she accidentally bumped into a girl who was on the phone and quickly apologized. She just looked at her and continued to talk on her phone.  
“Let's go!” Crane said once the girls caught up. They ran as fast as they could to the car and got inside. Crane started the car and followed the flow of traffic. “Crap! They're searching cars too!” Crane said once they got near the exit. You could see flashlights blaring ahead.   
“We should be fine! You have your wig in the car still right? The blond one!” Tess said as she searched the car for the wig.   
“Oh yeah, it's in the box behind you.” Crane said.   
“Here May! Tie your hair up and tuck it in.”   
May tied her hair back as tight as she could. “You know my hair is too thick for this, right?”   
“It's dark. They won't be able to tell anyways so long as it looks legit enough,” Tess placed the wig over her head. “There! You should be fine now. Oh! Rune, give me your big t-shirt! May will wear it to cover up anything else.” Rune dug into her bag and handed May the shirt. She was going to wear this if she got wet from getting onto a water slide. Luckily she didn’t. May quickly put it on.   
Crane rolled down the window as the cop came over.   
“We are searching for someone. May we look at the people inside your car?” He asked as he flashed his bright lights over us before getting an answer. Crane blocked the light and just nodded her head. The cop gave us a quick look over and thanked us before moving on to the next car. We all sighed a relief after Crane rolled her window up.   
“Alright. We should be safe to go home no,.” Crane said and drove them home. May took off the disguises and put her glasses back on. They had a deep conversation about today’s event and came to an agreement to have disguises on when going to any populated places.   
Before they arrived at the house, May saw an unknown car parked at the side. “Hey Crane. Don't pull up to our house. Go slow and pass the car there first. Pretend we don't live here.”   
“Copy that,” she responded and drove past our house.   
It was too dark to see who was in the car but after they left the corner, May saw a man walk from behind the house to the front. A man in a suit. ‘They found out where I live!’  
“It's them! We can't go back there tonight. They know where I live,” May said to the girls.   
“What?! How did they know where you live?” Tess exclaimed.   
“Hmm. I'm not sure. I didn't bring my bag with me. I don't have my ID on me nor my card. The only thing I have is my phone...” She searched for her phone on her body. She searched in the car. She looked up in disbelief. ‘Crap! Did I drop it?’


	4. Run IV

“You dropped your phone didn't you?” Rune asked.   
“No, I don't remember dropping it. I had it with me at the gate. Wait, I did bump into someone at the gate. It was a girl though. Maybe she pickpocketed me??” May said recalling the events after she last used it.   
Tess looked deep in thought, “Did she have brown hair? Was in a purple outfit?”  
“Yeah, sounds like her. She had a yellow small purse on her left side. I remember because it stood out with her outfit,” she responded.   
“I thought she was suspicious, but we were in a hurry so I thought it may have been a coincidence. She was holding something blue. It must've been your phone. She was also with a man in black when I turned around to verify my suspicions. Well, this confirms it,” Tess said. “One of you guys are gonna get a call. They are going to demand I meet their boss because I not only ran away twice and gave them the wrong info before, I kicked the boss's balls and kneed his stomach and lied to their faces while trying to get away. Haha. I'm dead.” May slouched on the back seat as she told them her encounter with the boss.   
“You kicked and kneed him?!” Rune and Crane exclaimed at the same time.   
“That makes this all the more difficult, May!” said Rune.   
May said with a dead voice, “I didn't mean to! He wouldn't let go of my arm and I got desperate to run away.”  
“Oh my word. We are done for. They looked like a mafia too. Or some high tycoon shit,” Tess said.   
“Yeah, I know. I've been telling you guys since day one that they are scary. They were still searching for me too man. It's been half a year!” May said starting to get angry at the thought they wouldn't let something so small as giving them the wrong info slide. “All I did was said not to worry about repaying me back. It's not like I offended them or anything. Sheesh!”  
“Maybe because he is rich and has never had a girl turn him down before he got offended?” Crane suggested, half joking. Everyone looked at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. “What?! It's possible! Happens all the time in my webnovels!”  
“It can't happen in real life! Who would have such a life to get offended from being turned down!? Hahaha!” laughed Tess.   
After a bit longer of laughter, May said seriously, “That is not the case right? I mean, what Crane said makes sense to me. He even said I made him look like a fool. He was angry yo. I thought I was gonna die so that's why I kicked him and kneed him. His grip was strong man. Stronger than yours Tess!”  
“Of course it'd be stronger than mine! He's a guy! If it wasn’t, he’s a wuss,” Tess retorted.   
“Was he hot though?” Crane smirked as she parked the car in a nearby park.   
“Seriously Crane? I'm on the run and you wanna know if he's hot?” May said in disbelief.   
“Oh come on, if he's hot then I'd totally be okay with it. Men in uniform are handsome. The guy I flirted with was pretty handsome too. Mhmm.” Crane said as she entered another world.   
May shook her head and recalled the boss's looks. “I guess he was handsome. He was cold though. A cold and handsome guy. Befitting the business world for sure. Pretty and handsome to draw you in, dark and cold once he’s got you,” May laughed jokingly. “Just like the webnovels.” She laughed some more. Tess chuckled along with her.  
“Well, least it's some hot guy and not some nasty old guy chasing you,” Tess said as she pulled out her phone. Her phone had started to vibrate and a silly tone rang. They all froze. It was the ringtone that is set up for May when she calls them. Each of the girls have a special ringtone to differentiate each other.  
“Who is calling, Tess?” Rune turned to face her, even though she knew who exactly it was.   
Tess slowly flipped her phone over for everyone to see. The moment May saw her name appear, her heart skipped a beat. ‘Today is the day I die.’   
Crane grabbed the phone, placed it on speaker, and answered harshly, “who the hell has this phone? It's called stealing since you are definitely not our friend!”   
A moment of silence.   
“You assholes won't answer now? Scared of us? For fuck's sake, who the hell are you?!” Crane continued angrily.   
May looked up and noticed that there were small movements in the corner of her eyes. Black figures could be seen moving around in the playground. After staring for a bit, she realized it was the men in black. She grabbed the phone and ended the call. “Start the car and leave now!” she shouted. She reached over to Rune's side and locked the car. The other girls then noticed the men. Crane was just about to start the car but it was too late. They were surrounded. Crane turned on the car headlights and in front of them were dozens of men with guns in their hands. In the middle stood a man without a gun. His jet black hair pulled back gave him away.   
“Welp, that's the boss, girls,” May pointed at the man in the middle. “Stay in the car. I'll go out. If anything worse happens tonight, I'm truly glad to have met you guys, and you guys are the best friends I've ever had. The most loyal and true friends.” She smiled jokingly.   
“Shut up. It's not our day to die and definitely not yours either,” said Tess.   
“She's right, we decided to do this as a group and will stay as a group no matter what happens,” Rune chipped in.   
“You're our glue so we stick together,” Crane added. She lifted her right hand and made a fist. Rune made a fist with her left. Tess with her right. May smiled and made a fist with her left. The four of them bumped their fists together.   
“We are roommates. Roommates for the year!” Rune said. They giggled at the terrible speeches everyone made.   
“Thanks guys. I'll try and handle this as swiftly as possible.” They murmured okay and May got out of the car. She looked around, more than a dozen men surrounded the car.   
“So many people for just four girls. Really only one girl. Is this necessary?” She said as she closed the door and walked to the front of the car to face the mob.   
Silence. ‘Figured as much. He isn't a talker. Where is that guy at? He'll talk.’ May looked for the guard from before who approached her. There! “Excuse me sir, you go by Drone right? Since your boss won't answer, will you talk instead?”  
Drone walked up to her. He handed her a memo pad and a pen. “Please give us your contact information.”  
May looked at him in disbelief and then at the boss who remained silent. “Seriously? You still want my info after already obtaining my address and phone and me kicking and kneeing him? Didn't you read my memo before? I said ‘don't worry about it’.”   
“You seem to have mistaken this for something else. Our boss would like to thank you formally for finding his secretary's daughter today at the park and returning her to us. As for the kick and knee, he wants to apologize for scaring you. You did it for self defense which is understandable,” said Drone.   
May frowned at the men. “Do you guys not know what 'don't worry about it’ means? Seriously, don't worry about it. Anyone would've done the same. How did you know it was me who brought Mary over anyways?” She took the pad and pen and wrote her information down anyway.   
“Name is May, leave me alone, you already have my info anyways. Don't call me or text me.”  
She handed the pad and pen back to Drone. Drone looked at the pad with concern. Looked at her, then his boss, and then back at her. “Miss May, please, your number. Mary informed us about you after you ran away from the boss.”  
With a big sigh, May sat on the car's hood with her legs and arms propping her up. She stared at the boss. He stared back at her. His hands were in his pocket the whole time with his head tilted to the side. He looked more like a gangster than a businessman. “I see. You sure he works in the business industry? He looks more like a gangster. 221x1505xx.” May said out loud to Drone in an annoyed voice.   
Drone chuckled, he wrote down her number on the memo pad. “Yes, Miss May, our boss is not a gangster. Thank you for the number.”  
May looked at Drone with annoyance. “Don’t use 'Miss’ in my name. Just call me May… How old is he?” She switched her eyes back to the boss.   
Drone paused for a moment, startled. “25 I believe.”  
“And you?” she asked without looking at him.   
“31.”  
“You guys are pretty young. Are we done now? Can I get my phone back?” she asked.   
“Yes.” Drone looked to his boss for more instructions. The boss waved his hand and Drone turned around.   
“He doesn't talk much does he?” She pointed out. “What an annoying boss.”  
Drone chuckled again and handed her her phone from his inner pocket. “He may have little to say but I assure you, he is a great boss to work for. Quite entertaining actually.”   
“Whatever you say man. Just leave me alone. Those girls inside won't mind hanging out with you guys though. Oh! Reminds me. There was a guard at the North gate. There were two, a brown head and a blond. Who is the brown head? The girl on my left is interested in him if he's available.” She tilted her head to the left side indicating Crane.  
Drone thought for a moment before answering. “Must be Kyo. Would you like his contact information?”  
“Nah, I'll give you hers and you give to him. If he's interested he can message or call her first. That way we know that both parties are mutual. Pen and paper please?” Drone handed her the memo pad and pen again. She wrote down Crane’s name and phone number. “He is older than 21 right?”  
“Yes, everyone at this company must be at least 21 unless special circumstances occur.”  
“Hm. Okay. So long as he's not younger than a year from her, it should be fine. Thanks man.” She handed the pad and pen back to him with a smile. “Seriously though, leave me alone. I don't want to associate with someone who doesn't talk.”   
“I will inform him. I do apologize for what happened today. You ladies enjoy your night,” Drone bowed once again.  
“Have a goodnight Drone. Oh! Before you leave, do you by chance know if any secret cameras were hidden around my house or in my car or any kind of tracking devices? That's an invasion of privacy and I can sue him for that legally,” she asked.   
“Not that I am aware of, Miss May,” he responded. She glared at him when he said 'miss’. “My apologies. It is a habit of mine. I will try my best to remember next time.”  
“Thanks! Bye!” She got off the hood and went inside the car. “We can go home now.”  
“What happened? You were talking to that guy for quite awhile. You weren't whispering but we couldn't really hear him,” a curious Crane said. “Also, thanks for mentioning the guy I flirted with. What if he's already taken?”  
“Hahaha. If he's available and interested, he will be in touch with you. I gave your name and number to him. As for everything else, apparently this chase wasn't for what happened earlier this year but for what happened today when I saved the little girl. He wants to formally thank me again,” May responded.   
“And the kick and knee?” Tess asked. Crane started the car and drove home.   
May shrugged. “He said he wants to apologize and understands that it was my self defense so I guess that is all. Think I'm good.”   
“Huh… All this for such a simple matter. They just wanted your contact info even though they already have it.”  
“Yeah, I know. Maybe I should've given them my number in the first place but it was really nothing to thank me for.” She said regretfully.   
“Well, now they have it. Just wait and see what this 'thank you’ is really all about,” said Crane.   
“Yeah, time for bed guys. Shower and then bed.” May yawned and thought to herself. ‘All this for nothing. Good exercise I suppose. I need it anyways.’


	5. Run V

*Ding*   
“You have ten minutes to get to Blue Triangle.” That's the first text message May received from ‘The Boss’ one morning a month later.   
“Who is this? 'The Boss’? I don't remember saving anyone's number and naming them ‘The Boss'. So demanding too.” May mumbled and tossed the phone aside after responding back “Who is this?”.  
“Not only are you good at running away, you're good at pretending too. Do you need me to send my men to your door?” The Boss responded back.   
‘What is this person talking about? When did I run away? What men…? THE BOSS! THAT GANG BOY!’ May suddenly jumped once she realized who she was texting.  
“Is this Drone’s boss? The gangster leader of the business group who chased me for 6 months earlier this year?” May quickly responded back.   
“Dare to say that to me in person? You have 5 minutes to get down here!” The raging text came.   
“Where is down here? Outside my door? Your place? I need to know more details man!” May texted back as she hurried to wash up. It is a Saturday morning and she was trying to sleep in. He sent an address while she was brushing her teeth. As she put on her clothes, she entered the address into the GPS. ‘Twenty minutes away. He expects me to get there in five minutes? Hell no man! Fifteen minutes the soonest!’ May cursed.   
“I'll get there in about 25 minutes!” May irritably texted back. She grabbed her keys and GPSed the way. The location is in downtown near the fancier side. The address is for Blue Triangle. A five star restaurant at that.   
May looked at the restaurant in disbelief once she arrived outside the door. ‘No way I am going to get inside. I'm not even dressed for something that fancy. In fact, I don't even have clothes fancy enough for this place! Why does he want to meet here of all places?? Do I just walk in or…?   
A young doorman stood outside the entrance at the podium. “Hello. Do you have a reservation set already or would you like to make one?” He asked as politely as he could. One could tell May didn't have a lot of money and was being looked down upon.   
“Neither but a businessman told me to come to this location. He is fairly young, has several body guards, stuck up, acts like a gangster. Is he inside?” May responded coolly.   
“Young Master Fury? Why would he ask someone like you here?” The valor asked in surprise.  
“Beats me. Let him know I'm here, if not, let me in. The sooner I get in there or he gets out here, the sooner I can leave,” May responded.  
The doorman opened the door and pointed in the general direction of ‘Young Master Fury’. May followed his direction. The smell of breakfast made her tummy rumble. Soon she came upon an enclosed area with two bodyguards outside the entrance. She paused for a moment before walking past them and peeped inside. A stunning young man was sitting in the middle of the table full of food. Eggs, bacon, oatmeal, grits, biscuits, yogurt, anything that belonged to the “breakfast” group could be seen on this table. All very delicious looking. He didn’t even look up when May knocked on the side to enter.   
“Sit.” He said sternly and took a bite of eggs with bacon.   
May sat in the furthest seat from him but closest to the entrance obediently. She looked around as he took more bites of his breakfast. An open “window” on the left side, four trees in a pot at each corner, and a painting set of three of some European waterway in each of the open walls. After a few minutes passed and nothing was said, May spoke up.  
“So… What am I doing here?”  
Silence. Another minute or so passed. He continued to eat.  
“If you’re not going to say anything important, I’m gonna leave. I have nothing to do here but awkwardly watch you eat,” she said, annoyed.  
He finished his bite and looked up at her. He stared for a moment before speaking. “Eat. This is my treat.”  
“If this is for me, why are you eating it before I arrive? Does it make sense to eat before the person it’s for to arrive?” May questioned without moving. Her tummy rumbled some more. ‘Free food… Is it really free though?‘  
“Eat, don’t eat. It is your choice. This is my thanks for returning Mary to us,” he said as he got another fork full.   
“This is your ‘thank you’?” she said looking at the food. “You know, a heads up about this meeting would’ve been nice. You sure you’re in the business industry and not some spoiled rich boy?” May still haven’t moved but eyed a banana. Her tummy rumbled again.   
His fork stopped moving and he placed it down beside his plate. He looked up at her and coldly said, “If you’re not going to eat, then leave.”  
“Thank you. Have a good day. Please don’t contact me again since you have already thanked me for saving Mary.” May got up and turned to leave. The two guards outside immediately took a step to their side blocking her way out. She looked up at them curiously and then tried to find another way out. There is an opening big enough to fit someone if one squeeze through behind the guard on the right. She made her way to it but the guard took a step back.   
‘Hmph! What a guy!’ She puffed.  
She turned around for any other openings but only the hole on the left side was a possibility. She made her way there and got onto a chair to climb out. Once she was out of the window, one of the guards directed her back to the entrance. The Boss was still eating and didn’t care at all what was going on. Annoyed, she tried to leave again but the guards kept blocking her. She shook her head and finally sighed.  
“Why aren’t you guys letting me pass? He said I can leave.”  
Not a word from anyone, not even a grunt. She looked at the two guards who only looked in front of them. She was almost two heads shorter so she wasn’t even in their view. She looked back at the man who was still eating and then turned again to the entrance.   
‘Should I just force my way out or should I sprint my way out or should I call for help or what should I do?’ She pondered this thought before agreeing with herself to do a sprint once she gets past the two guards.   
She pushed the two guards to the side which made no difference since they didn’t even budge. She pushed the guard on the left and still no movement. She kicked the one on the right in the shin. His face twitched but made no movements. She did a quick sprint over to the window opening from before but one of the guards arrived there right away. She then sprinted back to the entrance and squeezed in between the legs of both guards and dashed out to a small hallway for the waiters and waitresses to come by with food and drinks. She had cut right in front of a lady walking out with food who had to step back to avoid getting hit. The two guards reacted fast and quickly followed her only to pause because of the lady. She stepped onto a pot of plants and pushed herself over the wall where other customers were at. Luckily the spot she chose had no one. She rolled over onto the table and fled for the exit. One of the guards jumped over and followed her while the other weaved between tables and customers for the exit. He shouted to not let her escape. Murmurs from customers and employees could be heard for the confusion. Everything happened too suddenly for anyone not involved to comprehend what was going on, but one of the guys at the front did try to stop her. He stepped out from behind the counter to block the door. The doorman didn’t hear the commotion inside the building so he opened the door to let some customers in. May made a dash between the employee who was stopping her and pushed the door open wider, surprising the doorman and the customers. “Sorry!” she shouted as she ran out.  
She ran towards her car only to slow down since there were three men waiting for her there. ‘Great, these guys just won’t leave me alone. I’ll just head over to some other place and wait them out.’ She angrily thought. She looked at them as they stared at her, ready to grab her if she went their way. She glanced back and the two guards from the restaurant were close behind her. She got back on her toes and made a sharp turn to the right and headed to the other side of the parking lot where there is a crowd of people. Two of the men from her car sprinted her way.   
She glanced back to see how far any of them were. ‘So close! These guys can run! I would definitely want them as my bodyguards! Too bad I’ve been training myself for these kinds of things since the first time. Maybe I’ll be able to escape.’  
She ran into a group of people, slightly bumping into a few and harshly crashing into one or two. She apologized as she hit every person while keeping her eyes straight ahead to look for the next piece of escape tool. Dead in the center was the town park with trees and less humans. She ran there and could hear people shouting after her. Another glance back and a big hand swung by, just about to grab her by the shoulder. Her sudden turn made him grab nothing and missed. She turned to her right and dashed out of the way of the second guy, back into a crowd of humans.   
She could feel her insides starting to burn from the lack of oxygen and muscles aching from jumping and dodging. She pushed herself to keep going. She kept wondering as she fled and narrowly escaped every grasping hand, ‘Why do I continue to run? It’ll be easier if they just catch me… But I kind of enjoy this! It’s not everyday that I can actually exercise nor make myself exercise so this is like a very fun and extreme game of tag! Just don’t get caught… Who knows what that boss has in mind in that crazy head of his.‘  
At one point, May dodged one of the men and bumped into a man who suddenly turned and angrily scolded them. He looked like a coach for either a sports team or a boxing team. He was buff and built and tan.  
“Are you blind?! People are trying to enjoy this wonderful day out here and you are horse playing like some kid?!” He was talking to the man who almost got her.   
“Sir, they are chasing me for no reason! Please help me!” May quickly begged and got behind the man. One of the men was next to a couple nearby. The other two were behind her somewhere. They didn’t seem out of breath at all!  
“You’re a grown ass adult. Why are you chasing this kid? Did she steal from you?” He asked the man in the suit. The man stretched out his arm in front of May to protect her from the chasers. These men were short of words so naturally the guy didn’t answer him back. Instead, he quickly made a dash for May. The man she bumped into had quick reflexes and blocked him right away. They ended up tussling and causing a scene.   
While both men were busy with each other, the other man near the couple by May made his move. He started his way towards her but she made a dash over the tussling men and broke open the tight group of people crowding the area. She heard someone shout “Someone else is chasing her!” and then “Two others! Look!”  
She didn’t dare look back knowing how close they were and how serious their grabbing hands are. She kept moving forward and making turns until she got lost. The chase lasted for a while before she finally gave up when she ended up at a dead end. Heavy footsteps could be heard behind her but as she still wanted one last chance to avoid getting caught. Nearby were two dumpsters. She quickly went to the farthest one, squeezing into its nasty back side, hoping they wouldn't see her. The smell of the dumpster was horrible. Rotting mold and food along with diapers from who knows where and when, she held her breath.   
Soon footsteps could be heard. The footsteps stopped right beside the dumpster. She didn’t see them but dared not to move a single inch. After a brief moment, they turned to leave. May continued to hold her breath until she couldn’t hear them anymore. She waited for another five minutes to pass before moving out of her hiding space. She took several deep breaths of cleaner air and got onto her feet. She cautiously walked to the edge of the road and peeked around. No men in black anywhere, only people walking from store to store or taking their smoke breaks.   
She walked out onto the street and quickly made her way to find a familiar area, also avoiding any human’s range of smell as she stunk terribly. After some turns she finally arrived on a street she recognized. Still no signs of the chasers but more and more people have come out to enjoy this beautiful Saturday afternoon. After pondering whether to go straight to her car and drive home or visit a nearby friend and shower at her place first, she decided to just walk to the friend’s place. Her friend lives in one of the big and expensive apartments that her rich boyfriend gave her. She made her way there and not even five minutes later, as she passed a red light, a big hand appeared out of nowhere behind her, covered her mouth, and grabbed her waist. She was quickly dragged into a vehicle.


	6. Run VI

She kicked and punched and flailed about trying to get loose, but the hands were strong and steady. Once the car started to move, they finally let her go. She gasped for air and looked around her. Two men sitting on her left. A driver and a passenger on the phone on her right, behind a metal wall. All she heard was a “yes sir” and the rest was muffled out when the car accelerated. It appeared she was in a van without windows, or the windows were blocked. It was really dark and empty. Only the small window between this back side and the front side showed any light. Only the bench, seat belts, and the floor were seen. No newspaper or magazine or anything. It was a boring car. She sat up on the bench and put on a seat belt and looked at the two guys blocking the only entrance and exit door.   
“So, where am I being taken now? Can’t you smell me? I stink as heck!” She asked after about ten minutes of silence.  
Silence… They didn’t even look at her. She turned to the guys up front and asked the same question. Silence. Not a soul can be heard breathing but her’s. She kept to the front so she could see where they were headed and to get fresher air from her stinky aroma.   
‘Exit 116… What road are we on?’  
“What highway are we on? I don’t recognize this exit number.” She got up and said to the driver. He glanced back at her through the dash mirror before the passenger closed the only window of fresh air and light she had. ‘Hmph! My only window of life!’   
May sat back down in the darkness. After what felt like hours, she had fallen asleep, the van came to a stop. She woke up from the jerk of the vehicle stopping. She groggily yawned and stretched out her stiffness. The two men from the front got out. She could hear one of them talking to someone but she couldn’t make anything out. The door opened widely and the sudden burst of sunlight made her go blind. She covered her eyes quickly and slowly adjusted to the sunlight. The men were patient enough to allow her time to adjust. Once she was ready, she got out of the van without their help. She looked around and was amazed at what she saw.  
There was a beautiful water fountain in the center. The water was a very clear light blue. The statue started out as four dogs extending their bodies, three dogs with only half their body, two dogs of their heads only, and finally a tail at the top… Totally wasn’t expecting that. A huge modern style mansion was behind her. Definitely only rich people can live here. There were two flights of about ten steps each to the front door. Vast greenery could be seen around the area. To the far right looked like some kind of garden. One could see flowers leading the way in. Statues of animals were everywhere, ranging from reptiles to mammals. Birds of all kinds were placed in the higher areas. ‘This family must like animals,’ she thought to herself.  
The men led May up the stairs into the building. A row of ten or so maids were on the left, same as the butlers on the right. Another set of stairs in the middle. It really was a rich person’s house where the first floor was like a ballroom and the upstairs were where all the rooms are. The maids and butlers greeted her, “Welcome home, Miss May.”   
She stopped and asked in confusion, “Home? I don’t live here and don’t call me ‘Miss’.”  
“You’re the young master’s wife. This is your home,” said a butler nearby who was not part of the row of maids and butlers. It appears he was the top butler here. “My name is Aaron. Follow me, miss.”  
May repeated herself, “Don’t call me miss, and I don’t live here nor am I married. I think you may have mistaken me for someone else, Aaron sir.” She did not move forward but backwards instead. One of the guards blocked her way out and pushed her forward.   
“I don’t live here,” she said annoyed after she steadied herself and turned to the entrance. ‘I think I know who lives here. I think I know what is going on. I am getting into a forced marriage by the boss because I denied his thanks and ran away again. WHY!? This isn’t an anime or manga or a webnovel of some sort!’ May angrily thought to herself.  
“This way if you will, Miss May,” Aaron said, directing her up the stairs.  
She reluctantly followed his directions and walked up the stairs. Once she reached the top, Aaron led her to a bedroom where another set of maids greeted her the same way everyone else greeted her when she entered the mansion. She also told them to stop with the “miss” but no one listened.   
“These maids will help settle you in with a clean and hot bath. I will come and get you when you are done.” Aaron directed the maids to help her get cleaned.  
“I’m fine the way I am. No need to make this great mansion any dirtier than it already is with my nasty self from the dumpster. I don’t need to owe anyone anything. If you could just take me outside, I can find my way back.” She politely declined the service but the maids were not mere maids. They had the same strength of a man, easily pulling her forward and stripping her of her rights. Aaron just nodded his head after the maids had pulled her and left. It happened so fast she didn’t have time to react to it. She stood at the entrance of the bathroom, naked and stunned.  
The tub looked like a mini pool. The smell of lavender was strong as that was what decorated the bath and the fragrance of the soap. She could swim back and forth with several strokes on every side. It is deep enough for her to sit on her butt and sit up straight with an inch or two above her head for water to roam freely. She told the maids she will wash herself but they weren't having it. May felt very uncomfortable having someone else see her naked, much less touch her so intimately. They were gentle yet rough when washing her and spared no mercy on her ticklish spots. She could tell they were getting frustrated, getting much wetter than they thought they would with her flailing about trying to escape their grasps to clean her. Their beautiful bath, full of freshly picked flower petals of rose and lavender, were washed out into clumps everywhere by the end of it all.   
After about forty minutes of fighting in the bath, she was finally done. They gave her some skimpy undergarments. A pair of white lacy thongs and a white lacy, strapless, push up bra.   
‘What am I supposed to be? A prostitute?’  
“Don’t you have any other normal underwear?” sheI asked the head maid.  
“This is to the young master’s liking,” she answered back.  
“I am not pleasing your young master. I need to wear something to my comfort,” May retorted back. “It is not like he will see this anyway. Give me something else or I will make a fuss again!”   
The head maid pointed her finger towards a young girl who quickly left the room and came back just as quick with something similar to what she wore before. Normal hipster style underwear with normal non-push up, strapped bra. May thanked the young girl and put them on. They led her to the closet where all the clothing was. The closet was as big as a small bedroom.  
Soon as she entered, all she saw were frilly dresses, Sunday dresses, maxi dresses, all kinds of dresses on most of the hangers and towards the back end were skirts and fancy blouses!!! What a terrible taste in clothing!! No pants or shorts?!  
May looked at the closet in disbelief. “Aren’t there any non-dress outfits? Like pants of some sort? Or shorts? Nothing to do with dresses or skirts?” she asked the head maid.  
“The young master is fond of dresses, Miss May. It’d be wise to dress to his liking,” she answered back.  
“I am not here to please your young master, ma’am. Please get me my old clothing back. I shall wear those instead,” May said annoyed.   
“I am afraid they are dirty and will not suit the young master’s taste, Miss May. Please pick an outfit from here to your liking,” she responded and pointed to the closet.  
“Don’t call me ‘miss’. I don’t like dresses and skirts and fancy clothing. I like plain clothing. I like t-shirts. I like hoodies. I like pants. I like sweatpants. I like shorts,” May’s voice rose. “I like MEN TYPE OF CLOTHING. For your damn young master’s sake, give me something I like and let this be done and over with.”  
The head maid looked at her sternly and said, “We cannot do that, Miss May. You must choose one of these dresses.” She walked towards her and turned her to the closet.  
“No! I will not!” May exclaimed as she pushed her away and stormed out to the bedroom. She fished for her old clothing that were in a basket at the corner. She took them out and went to the bath and washed them clean with bar soap. The maids just stared at her actions. Speechless and not knowing what to do. Guess they have never had someone rebel so much in one go. Once she was done, she drained as much of the water out as she possibly could and put on the still damp clothing in the bathroom.  
“Let me see this young master of yours so I can leave this miserable place that is forced upon me,” she said once she came out of the bathroom. She took the towel off her head from earlier. Her hair was still very damp but she didn’t care as she was already damp everywhere anyway.   
The head maid sighed and opened the door, exposing the butler Aaron. Aaron came in and saw the mess and May’s outfit. He did a side glance to the head maid who only shook her head. He sighed and said, “Very well then, please put on these slippers and come this way please, Miss May.”  
“Stop with the ‘miss’ already. I’ve said it a million times to you and everyone.” May shook her head, put on the slippers, and followed the butler out.


	7. Run VII

Aaron took her to a lounge a few hallways away and told her to wait there. The lounge was beautiful. It had four sets of cream colored sofas, two long ones on opposite sides of each other and two smaller ones on the other ends. There was a rectangle glass coffee table in the center. The back was not a wall but an open panel of windows. A total of five live plants were spread out by the windows. To the left and right side of the walls were a set of double wooden doors with eccentric designs. It must lead to either someone’s bedroom or their office. On the side where she came in had several paintings of a family. About mid-way through from looking at the paintings, the little boy soon looked familiar. She couldn’t put her finger on it but she felt like she had seen him before. Each painting from the left to the right were old to new. She stopped at the last one and stared at the painting. It’s the Boss! He looked much gentler then, kind and fun. She nearly couldn’t recognize him! She looked at the previous ones and compared them. He really has changed. He was happy in each painting.  
‘What happened to him for him to change from this fun kid to a mean adult?’ May couldn’t help but pity the boy.   
“Fascinated by the portraits, I see.” A voice behind her filled the silent room. May was startled and turned to see the boss walking towards her. “Time flies. I used to know this kid. He’s gone now.” His eyes were full of sadness and regret.  
“What happened?” She asked looking back at the portraits.  
“Life is what happened,” he responded while looking at the last painting.   
A moment of silence filled the air as May didn’t know what else to ask, knowing the rich life is hard. As she looked back and forth between the portrait of this young boy and the now adult in front of her, she could see that he hasn’t aged much.  
“How old were you when this was painted?” She finally asked.   
He bent down towards her and took a step forward. “Interested in me, are you?” The corner of his lips turned up into a malicious smirk.  
“No, I’m not.” May took a few steps back to get out of his reach but ended up hitting the wall instead. “But it just seems like either this was painted a few years ago or you haven’t really aged since your teens.” He closed in on her.  
“You’re a curious one, aren’t you? I was 18. It’s been seven years and I still look the same. Have you fallen for my looks?” He lifted her chin and turned it back towards him as she turned her head to the right to look away and find an excuse to leave. “Hmm?”  
His face was getting closer and closer to hers. May’s heart was beating really fast. Who wouldn’t fall for someone this handsome and this rich? She knew she was excluded from this list as she was becoming more and more scared of what he’ll do to her if she angered him. But she just couldn’t help thinking if her beating heart was really because she was scared, or was it due to his charming looks?   
“Curious, yes, falling for you, no. Not in this lifetime, sir.” She looked him in the eye and said sternly, but her heart wouldn’t stop beating fast. If he leaned just a bit closer, he could hear how rapidly it was thumping. “I’m sorry to disappoint you but I must leave. I don’t belong in this kind of place,” May said as she slowly started sinking further down the wall as both his arms came up to her face. He leaned his arms against the wall and pressed his forehead against hers in an attempt to stop her from sinking further. She looked away in shock and embarrassment. Her hands pressed firmly against his chest.   
“A tough woman, just how I like it.”   
May froze in panic, not a single word or breath came out of her mouth. Her face flushed as she could feel his warmth. Her mind started running millions of thoughts of what was happening and how to get out of there. She gave a push to his chest but that didn’t do anything. Either his forehead adsorbed most of her strength or he got increasingly heavier. She didn’t have time to think which was the right answer. All she knew was that this was becoming a dangerous situation. She tried to slide down and break free from his head but he was putting a firm pressure against hers, making her head scrape the wall in pain each time she moved. It didn’t help that her hair was still quite damp.  
“Let go, please, sir,” she said shakily.   
“No, I like this spot,” He softly said as he lowered his face to be parallel to hers.  
May’s heart beat faster and faster as each second passed. Her face was no longer flushed but red as a tomato. She avoided all eye contact but could feel his stare. Her body started to shake as she was losing energy to fight against him. In a moment of thoughts to do, her shaky right leg suddenly swung up between them and, given just enough space and force, kicked him hard in the stomach to push him back a few steps. She fell down immediately once the pressure on her forehead was lifted. She landed with a thud and with a sudden chill all around her, she was reminded that her clothes are damp and cold. Weak everywhere, she stayed where she was at trying to gather strength. Never before has anyone done this to her. She was quite shocked.  
“That leg of yours sure loves to kick. Maybe I should teach it a lesson.” He said as he got himself steady. He straightened himself and walked over. May looked up at him. His cold face returned. Her heart sank as she imagined the worst to happen next.  
“Why didn’t you wear any of the dresses I picked out for you?” He asked.   
A bit taken aback at the question of all things, she answered, “I don’t like dresses. If you’ve dug up my background and history, you should’ve known that in the past 22 years of my life, I have never bought a dress for myself.” She could feel her strength coming back but continued to stay on the ground and only shifted herself to have a better defending position.   
“It doesn’t matter if you like dresses or not. You are to wear what I have given you. You should feel special to have me pick those outfits. I don’t do it just for anyone,” He conceitedly said.  
“Oh yeah, I feel special alright. I get stalked, then kidnapped, then forced to bathe and wear clothes I don’t even like… Yeah, I feel special. You need a new hobby. Find someone else to follow your biddings,” she responded as she got to her feet. “You’re acting like I belong to you when I don’t even know you. We don’t know each other. I can sue you for kidnapping and harming my mental health.”  
“Oh, but we do know each other. You lied to me and even kicked me twice. That sue will do you no good as no one will listen to a mere human girl talk nonsense.”  
“What do you want then? You can’t keep me here forever,” May angrily said.  
“I want your body.” His face didn’t change from before - cold and evil all in one.   
She looked at him in disbelief. “What’s so special about my body? There are plenty of better looking bodies than mine.”  
“You’ll find out later. Come and meet your new family. You’re my wife as of today.” He grabbed her left arm and pulled her out the door with him.   
“Wait, wait, wait. Your wife?! I never consented to this! Let go of me bastard!” May struggled to break free and could only walk towards wherever he was headed to. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of a big golden door somewhere in the mansion. He pushed the door open and in that room stood many creatures who were busy at work moving things around, talking on the phone, talking to others - humans and non-humans.  
Fox ears and tails along with wolves and cats and dogs and every other animal! Wings! Talons! Scaled skin! Different colored skin! Fur! Floating creatures, blobs, every night and day creature of mythical beings one could think of was here.  
May gasped at the sight in bewilderment. She grabbed the Boss’s right arm and pulled him down a bit without looking at him. “Are these real or are they cosplaying?” She quietly asked excitedly.   
His expression seemed to have softened, and he chuckled before answering, “They are real. Real as real can be. Watch yourself or you may get hurt.”  
“This is so COOL!! I knew they existed! I knew they were real! DUDE… This is awesome!!!” May squealed as quietly as she could. ‘I can now die in peace knowing they truly exist!!! How amazing are they?!’  
He chuckled some more and said, “Don’t you feel under-dressed now? Want to go and change your outfit?”  
“Nope! I get to see them in my most comfortable outfit! I like this better. But why is there like a clear bubble or something around here? This isn’t a screen… This a portal!?” May turned and smiled big at him only to suddenly gasp. She looked at him from head to toe. His skin is somewhat pale blue and his ears were pointy. His eyes glowed bright red. His short, jet black hair grew longer, down to his waist, and two black horns grew on his head. His hand suddenly became bigger but his height and body remained the same.   
‘Whoa! I have never seen a creature like him before!’  
The smile that had disappeared before came back even bigger. May took his hand off her arm and compared it with hers. It is twice as big. She clenched his hands with hers but could barely squeeze it down. She then touched his wrist and arm to feel the smooth skin. Next she touched his face, pulling and squeezing his cheeks. His eyes narrowed in annoyance. She just laughed before pulling him down some more to touch his ears and horns. His ears were warm and a bit pinkish like he was embarrassed. How cute! The horns were rigid but felt smooth like an elephant’s tusk.   
‘How cool is this?! I get to actually touch someone that is not a human!!! Waaaaaaaaa! So awesome!!! >0<’  
She was so mesmerized by his sudden appearance that she forgot they were standing by the door. He grabbed her wrist from his horns with his big hands and said bashfully, “Do you want to fondle me in front of so many people? As my wife, shouldn’t you be ashamed of yourself?”  
Her smile disappeared again. She turned and looked at the portal in confusion. She thought this was a portal so the other side can’t see them anyways? No one had even turned to look at them. She looked back at him in confusion when a sudden warmth rose on her face as she realized what had just happened. She turned to him and said embarrassingly, “You never told me about this so I was just shocked, and I am not your wife!” She took back her wrist from his hands and turned to look at the portal again.  
The boss chuckled and did something behind her because the portal changed and a buzz could be heard forming around when it stopped changing. The portal showed an empty room with sofas and a fireplace. May turned to face him in confusion and he just smiled and walked forward. He grabbed her hand and she followed without a fuss into the portal. As she walked past the border where the portal is into this new place, it felt like she was dipping herself into a body of water but without getting wet. A strange feeling for sure. After a short walk to the other side of the room, the boss opened the door and she saw other folks who looked similar to him. They were chatting but when they entered, everyone went silent and stared at them. ‘This is his family.’  
“Mother and father, I present to you my wife.” He held May’s waist and pointed to her. His mother is very pretty and appeared to be young. She didn’t look any older than 35 years old. His father, on the other hand, looked older but still handsome and well-built for someone well over 45 years old. Their horns were almost identical to the Boss’s except the father’s was longer and the mother’s was slender. Their pale complexion was the same, and their hands were bigger than the average human’s hands as well. May couldn’t help but look in awe at them before she realized what he said.  
“I am not his wife. I was kidnapped here!” May quickly said. She pushed him away and took several steps to her right to create some distance.   
His parents just looked at May up and down before saying anything.  
“This is the chosen human? Not very classy at all. What happened to the other woman? And the ones before her?” His mother said looking very sternly at her son. May could tell there were other meanings behind that look as if she knew what had happened.   
May’s ears perked up at the mention of other women. ‘He has other women?! I’m not needed here then!!! (ಠ益ಠ)’  
“He has other women so I can go right? I’d love to see more of this world of yours but I probably shouldn’t since humans don’t really mix in well with other races of creatures.” She glanced around at the non-human creatures. A total of nine non-human folks, three of them seemed to be servants. The other five consisted of his mother and father, an elder who could be their grandma, and a girl and boy who seems to be in their teens. There is also him to make it nine.  
“She is wise for a human. She may be a good fit after all,” the father spoke up.  
“No, no, no. I am merely passing by and will return soon to the other side. Not a word will be spoken of this place,” May hurried to say before the boss could say anything. “Please just lead me out and I’ll be perfectly fine finding my way.”  
The boss suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him. “She is the one. The others are failures but I can feel that she is the one. She’s different from them. You can tell just by looking at her. You can feel it too, can’t you, mother?” He said in a serious tone.   
May’s mind started to run as she thought of what he meant. ‘What am I supposed to be? How can other women fail? What did they fail on?’  
The mother took a few steps forward and sniffed the air around May before grabbing her hand. Her slender fingers ran along from the wrist to the palm, sending May shivers each passing second. She waved her hand to someone and they brought her a small knife.


	8. Run VIII

May’s heart started to beat faster. ‘Is she going to cut my hand? Is she going to stab me? What is she doing with that knife?’ She tried to pull her hand away from the mother but she firmly held May’s wrist in place. With the knife, she did the same motions. Ran it from the wrist to the palm to the fingers without cutting anything, sending May more chills down her spine. The knife went up and around her hand before the tip landed on the tip of the index finger. A sharp pain shot through May but it was only momentarily. Someone else came with a small golden bowl of clear water. The mother squeezed May’s finger to make more blood come out and then flipped her finger over the water. A few drops fell into the water. She then let go of May’s hand. May quickly wrapped it in somewhat still damp shirt to stop the bleeding. Everyone had become silent and watched intently on the bowl.  
As May watched her blood mix into the water, she could tell it wasn’t any normal water. Her blood slowly changed from red to blue. She looked at it in confusion before looking at everyone else. The boss’s parents remained the same while everyone else’s eyes grew bigger. Some even gasped at the change of color. Small murmurs filled the silent air.   
May unconsciously took a step back only to hit the Boss behind her. She looked at him and he looked at her with pleasing eyes. The deep feeling that she had been trying to ignore since she entered the mansion rose again. The feeling of knowing something bad is about to happen. Something terrible. He grabbed the hand that his mother poked her finger and took it up to his mouth. Before she could take it away from him, he squeezed it some and a small blob of blood appeared. He then licked it leaving a heavy slob of saliva on it. Gross. The sudden blood licking surprised May so much the dark feelings she had were replaced with disgust. She quickly took her hand back and wiped it on his shirt and then on hers to clean it some more.   
“This is a good sign. She may actually work,” his father spoke again in confidence. “We may finally get my grandfather’s wealth with her and take control of the kingdom!” His eyes gleamed and everyone else seemed to be nodding with agreement and speaking in small voices out of earshot.  
“What do you mean? I can’t do anything!” May said, starting to feel scared again.   
“You will be sacrificed to the lord of the night! And become my sister-in-law!” said the young girl nearby. The look in her eyes was scary. It gleamed with ulterior and greedy motives. Her smile was very creepy too. Big and wide, revealing the pretty teeth she has. She was serious.   
Suddenly everyone burst into laughter. They were laughing so hard some even snorted and started to tear up. The boss was chuckling hard too, even the servants were chuckling. May looked at everyone in astonishment. ‘What are they laughing about?’  
“I’m sorry, dear child. We always do this whenever a new person joins the family for dinner. It is a great way to break the ice. The look on your face is priceless!” said the elderly woman between puffs of laughter.  
“I’m so lost… What is going on? I’m not going to be sacrificed, am I?” May asked.  
The boss was still chuckling when he said, “No, you won’t be sacrificed. This is just a joke.” He took a deep breath to calm himself down and continued seriously, “But if you do actually pass the test, it can become real.”  
That sent shivers through May’s body.   
“Oh, hun, don’t scare the child. Come, let us have dinner,” said his mother. 

After dinner, the Boss and May were left alone outside on the patio. Their backyard was gorgeous at night during a full moon. Little light creatures fly about in the dark. Sometimes it even looked like they had their own way of traveling. If one looked close enough, one could almost see someone directing traffic even though they all went in separate ways. The bushes and flowers were lit up by the clear full moon, a glimmer of silver everywhere. A small water fountain maintained its beauty from the moon’s light. A beautiful sight to see indeed. There was also a hedge maze behind all this. They were quite tall, almost seven or eight feet in height. The boss said the maze was magical. It was able to take you where you needed to be but mainly, it just gets anyone who goes in it lost for hours before letting anyone go back to the entrance. He said he’s been in it several times and that was what happened to him.  
The two ended up walking along the hedges and chatted for a bit.   
“You know, even though I’ve been here for several hours and I’ve been kidnapped, I still don’t know your name. What is it?” May asked.  
“I never told you?” He looked at her, puzzled.   
“Nope.”   
“Butú.”  
“Butú. Nice. What does that mean?”  
“Night. I was born on the brightest day of the year around noon. My parents thought it’d be funny to call me that.” He chuckled a bit. “I do honestly like the name though. Very befitting of my nightly habits.”  
“Kids do like to play at night the most. I know I did, and I would’ve had my parents let me. It’s dark and dangerous but that is what being a kid is all about. Adventure. Being fearless. Being a troublemaker.” May laughed a bit thinking of her younger self. “You don’t seem to be that bad of a guy. Scary when you’re mean but overall, you’re pretty kind.”   
“‘Kind’, huh? Thanks for that. I really appreciate it. No one ever said I was kind before,” he said after a while.   
May looked at him like looking at a child who doesn’t know what to do. He seemed almost hollow. A sudden howl interrupted the night. May turned towards the direction of the sound. It was behind her. Butú grabbed her hand and started to run ahead. She ran with him.  
“Does that howl mean something bad?” Silence. Another howl could be heard, closer this time. “Why aren’t you answering?” Silence. “Slow down a bit!”   
After a few moments of running too fast for May, she finally tripped over her own feet and slipped out of his hand, fell down hard on the gravel. She huffed and puffed sitting there trying to catch her breath.  
“Get up! We have to go now!” He said sternly and lifted her to her feet.  
“I can’t run just yet, I’m hurt! You ran too fast for me!” She said out of breath. She shakily walked along the hedge, using it as support, instead of running. Her knees were in pain the most from the hard fall.  
“Tsk! You’re too slow!” He lifted her up and placed her over his shoulders as he ran along the hedges.   
“Hey! This is uncalled for! I can walk! Put me down!” May struggled some before stopping. A sudden flash of movement caught the corners of her eyes. Another howl in the moonlight showed a black creature running after them. Two heads, red eyes, two tails. It looked like a cerberus but two heads instead of three. It was getting closer and closer.  
“Butú! That dog looking thing is getting closer! Put me down! I’m too heavy!” May shouted over trying to push herself off so that it’ll be easier on them to run away.  
“No! You’re hurt and too slow and Rust is too fast for you to outrun him! If he catches you, you’re done for!” He responded. His grip on her waist tightened and he suddenly started to run even faster.   
“How are you running so fast while carrying me?!” May asked while grateful for not having to outrun this creature. She noticed the grip Butú had on her seemed to have widened. She couldn’t see his hands but she could see his horns and longer hair. He transformed and that is why he is faster. Rust was still gaining on them though. “Hey! Rust is closer now!”  
Tsk! May could hear him click his tongue as she felt him try to make another dash, still running along the hedge.  
“Why don’t we go into the hedge? We can lose Rust there, right?” May asked.  
“No, it’s too dangerous for you to be in there. Once we get past these hedges, we’ll reach his cage and trap him back in.” He finally gave a worthwhile answer.  
As the short moments passed, May just watched Rust get closer to them. Her body is awkwardly moving out of places as Butú continues to run as well. Rust looks scary but the closer he got and she got a better look, the cuter Rust seemed to appear. He was much bigger than she thought. He was about as tall as she was from what she could tell on all fours. Both heads had different eye colors. Each head had a blue eye and a red. The blue eyes were on the outside and red eyes were inside, making it look like there’s a third head with red eyes in the middle. His black fluffy hair puffed all over the place and his large body looked like it’d be the perfect body pillow and warmer! May subconsciously reached her arms out to him once he was a few feet away.   
“What are you doing?!” Butú shouted as he jerked May forward a bit knocking her arms down a little. “Don’t reach out to him! You don’t know what he’ll do to you!”   
May retracted her arms quickly and apologized. “I didn’t know I had reached out to him! But he’s only a few-!” Before she could finish the last sentence, Rust curved his body and his tail came swinging right at them. They flung left into an entrance of the hedges. The sudden impact upon hitting the ground loosened Butú’s grip on May and she fell out of his arms, rolling on the ground. Butú’s body was still rolling a few feet away by the time she stopped. She could feel her arms and legs tingling a bit from the sudden impact and rolling. Rust slowly walked over. His drools rolled out non-stop. He looked hungry, not cute. May got to her feet. A sharp pain tugged her right leg but she continued to limp over to Butú who was on his knees, glaring at Rust.  
“What do we do now?” May asked as she helped him up.  
“Run into the hedges. He won’t be able to chase you down there. The hedges will protect you. I’ll distract him for as long as I can and get him back into his cage. I’ll find you once I’m done dealing with him.” He said as he gave her a slight push to the left.  
“But you’re hurt, Butú! How can you distract him when you’re barely on your feet?!” She worriedly said as Rust came closer and closer. May subconsciously scooted backwards as well. She didn’t fear Rust but her body was moving on its own. Rust started to give out a low growl.   
“Go! He won’t hurt me!” He said again.   
She looked at them both before turning to flee. She limped as fast as she could. Rust growled and when May glanced back, both Butú and Rust were dancing in a circle. Rust would try to bite Butú while Butú dodge and tried to grab the collar on his neck. May continued to limp away and once she entered a new hall of hedges, she could hear some rustling noise behind her. Her heart sunk as she thought something was coming behind her. She turned to see what was behind her and only got a surprise. The hedges started to move closer, closing the opening she just came from. She kept walking away, but backwards, to see the sight in front of her.  
Rust’s right head saw the closing hedges and turned to her. He barked a few times. Butú almost had the collar but it slipped out of his hands when Rust suddenly turned and moved in May’s direction. Butú made a daring jump at Rust but Rust’s tail swiped Butú to the side. Rust then dashed and jumped through the closing hedges, landing where she was at a few moments ago. She quickly turned a corner and tried her best to run away from Rust. She ignored any pain she received from the sudden tumbling and hard fall earlier. The rustling noise could be heard all around her now. It is like the hedges are helping her. Every turn she made, a new opening appears and the one behind her starts to close, but Rust is too fast for the hedges and always makes the dash through. By the time she thought she finally lost him, she heard him howl nearby. He wasn’t behind her anymore but she could hear him walking and growling around. The hedges finally got him blocked off but he was a dog. His sense of smell was much stronger and with his height, he could always climb over the hedges.   
She quietly walked away from the howls. The hedges were still opening and closing in front and behind her. Everywhere looked the same. She eventually reached somewhere with a fountain. This must be the center. Usually the center has some kind of water fountain. She walked closer to inspect it.  
Crystal clear water. A breeze passed through and it brought a nice and cool sprinkle towards her. The moonlight made the fountain look magical. It wasn’t anything special like the one in front of the mansion. This one was simple. The base color was silver white, it was big and round with two smaller round bowls going up, and there were flower designs all over it. She stepped over to take a closer look. The water was really crystal clear. She could see the bottom perfectly. Someone most likely cleaned it out every day. She touched the cool water. It was very refreshing for her warm skin from running. She dipped her head and arms in for a bit before taking them out. The water ran down her legs. Such a refreshing feeling.  
After freshening up, she walked around the fountain in awe. Her right leg didn’t seem to hurt anymore. The howling stopped a while back so she was not sure if Rust got caught or if he was still searching. She decided to see if she could see anything above the hedges by getting up on the fountain. Once she climbed on it, she could barely see past the tops of the hedges but it looked clear. She saw the mansion far away. She started to count how many hedges she would have to pass through to get to that side but remembered that the hedges move so it was useless to count.   
CRACK!  
The sound came behind her. May froze where she was at, her heart stopped for a moment. Soft shuffles on the ground could be heard. Someone or something was walking over. She slowly turned her body around to see who or what it was that was coming. A big black figure walked over. Its snout was sniffing around on the ground and then she saw the head lift up. Blue and red eyes stared at her. ‘It’s Rust! But only one head?’ She looked at it confusingly but dared not move, pretending she didn’t exist. Suddenly another shuffling sound came from her side. She could feel her pulse pulsing through her fingers. A cold shiver ran down her back. She swung her body around. ‘Rust! The other Rust!’


	9. Run IX

Right-side-Rust started to growl which made left-side-Rust look up and see her. He, too, growled and they both slowly stalked towards May, blocking any exit she could possibly make. The nice cool air around her suddenly chilled. Rusts’ drools were dripping, his eyes were glowing. They were licking their mouths like they were looking at a delicious piece of a tasty treat. May was now frightened. She couldn’t move her body at all. She screamed to herself ‘MOVE! RUN! JUMP! GET OUT OF HERE!’ but nothing happened. For the first time since she met Butú, she really wanted him to appear and take his dog away from her.  
Both Rust started to snap at each other for first dibs on her. As they were snapping away, she took a step back. She forgot for a moment she was on the wall of the fountain. The moment her toes landed on the edge and the rest of her foot hit thin air, she knew she screwed up. Without a sound, she landed into the water. She would rather die drowning than get eaten alive. But wait, she didn’t feel wet nor is she underwater. It feels like that dip in water but not getting wet. It then clicked, she went through a portal! She opened her eyes to see where she was.   
It was somewhat dark. Faint light came through the top and from what looks like a door. All around her were mops, brooms, boxes of things, mop heads, more boxes and bags. This is a storage and cleaning room. ‘What the heck… A portal from a beautiful fountain takes you to a dark and mucky storage room? Ok…‘  
She got up and went towards the door. She peeked through the tiny square window, no one in sight. She felt for the door handle and slowly pried it open before poking her head through to see if anyone or anything was out there. Nope, no one. She left the storage room and looked at the options before her.   
‘Left, right, straight left, or straight right? Why are there so many hallways?’  
She ended up going straight right. As she walked forward and towards who knows where, she heard some commotion. A buzzing and murmuring noise. Sounds familiar. As she got closer, the noise became louder. She opened the double door ahead and gasped. Appeared before her were many folks walking to and fro from one location to another. Reindeer heads, goat heads, bird heads, feathers, talons, tails, scales, wings, dark colored skin, light colored skin, red skin, blue skin, all mythical and fantasy creatures. She had portaled through to Butú’s world! Overhead came a loudspeaker of a lady in a foreign language but the tone was the same as that of an airport or train station. A group of people got up from their chairs and headed in one direction as if their flight had been called. ‘This is the airport-ish?!’  
They had all kinds of outfits, from traditional outfits from all over the world to modern outfits along with outfits she had never seen before. Decades of years in the human world all appeared here. She was utterly at a loss at what to do. She didn’t see what looked like a human in her world in sight. She quickly walked to the edge of a stand in hopes to blend in but also peeked out enough to see more of this world. It was beautiful here. The ceiling was open yet it didn’t seem like it was. It was like a magic sky. The station was clean and very much different from the one she worked at before.  
*Buzz* !@#$%^& *Buzz*   
That sounded like a walkie. Two tiger looking figures in human form walked over in her direction quickly. They wore a white long sleeve with a black vest over it along with black pants. They had on an arm band as well but she couldn’t read it. On their waist was a series of bulges that she couldn’t make out from where she was. She had a feeling that they were either the police or security. She instantly hid behind a flap of curtain by the stand nearby. She could barely make out what one said as it passed by but it was also in a different language. They both entered the double doors she just came from.  
A bad feeling came over her. ‘I don’t think I’m supposed to be here.’ She stepped out and went over to the other side of the stand when someone started to shout. She turned to look at what was going on. A male tengu in the same uniform as the two tigers came walking quickly over to her. He grabbed her harshly by the arm and continued to speak his language in an angry tone.   
May just looked at him confused and scared. She didn’t resist either since she didn’t want him to be even more mad than he already was. A female voice could be heard shouting somewhere nearby. She came over and stopped him and then looked at the terrified May. Her features were most similar to a lizard. Her eyes were yellow with vertical shaped iris, and although she wasn’t fully covered in scales, she definitely had scales along the edges of her face and bits on her neck and hands. She spoke to May but could tell she didn't speak their language. The man had calmed down but he looked at May with deep hatred. They proceeded to take her elsewhere. They entered the double doors that May walked out from and instead of going straight to the room she came out, they made a right turn and many more turns and some stairs and then had to go through a badged gate before arriving at a room.   
May sat down on the chair in front of the table. This is an interrogation room. The female officer then started to speak in several different languages to see which one May knew. She could tell it was different languages because the way she said it had almost the same tone of asking “who am I?”. May told her “I speak English” in hopes that maybe she’ll understand her instead but the lady didn’t. It seems this is a language they are not familiar with. The guy angrily slammed the wall and then on the table and started to say something while pointing at May. It seems like he believed her to be part of something bad.  
The lady calmed him down and on her walkie, she called someone over. A few minutes passed by with nothing happening. May just stared at them and they stared back at her. Suddenly a sheep looking girl in a white coat with glasses popped in out of breath. She looked like she was apologizing. She kept saying the same words and bowing. The guy scoffed and said something. He must just be an angry guy. The female lizard then pointed at May and said something. The girl looked at May up and down. She shifted her glasses and got really close to her. May backed away as much as she could on the chair. Once the sheep was done examining May, she handed her a blue bottle. May looked at it questionly. Suddenly a loud POOF noise filled the room and a green puff of smoke covered May fully. She had a coughing fit after inhaling the smoke. The smoke left on its own after a short time. Once she stopped coughing, the sheep girl spoke proudly.  
“There! She should be able to understand us now.”   
May looked at them in confusion. ‘What just happened? Is that green smoke a language understanding thing?’  
The lizard lady spoke next, “Your look of confusion means you understand us, yes?” May slowly nodded. “Good. This sheep here is a mad scientist who is able to create smoke that will allow anyone who inhales it to communicate.”  
May nodded in understanding and spoke, “So what language am I speaking now? This isn’t English but I’m speaking it fluently?”   
“Who cares what the language is! State your name and reason for entering the Transport!” The tengu shouted.  
The female lizard shook her head, “This is not the way to talk to someone, Yoen. You will scare her way more than she already is, and we will get nothing out of this. I apologize for my partner. His name is Yoen and I am Nivaet. What is your name?”  
May opened her mouth to speak but ended up clearing her throat first. “May and I don’t know why I am here. One moment I am facing a two headed dog, the next I’m in a closet, and then here.”  
“Hmm. Closet you said? Near where we found you?” Nivaet questioned.  
“Yes.”  
“That portal hasn’t been used in a very long time. In fact, no one seems to be able to activate it. Are you a Royal?”  
“A what?” May scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.  
Nivaet explained, “A Royal of Mirium. Dark skinned with two horns, and a terrible sense of humor. They always lie and diguise themselves as others to play their stupid pranks and cause commotion.”  
May shook her head, “No, I’m a human.”  
“I don’t believe her! Only a Royal can open that portal!” Yoen shouted again.  
“But I am not from this world! I came here by chance!” May defended herself.  
“Lies! That is what they always say!” Yoen grabbed a dagger from his waist and pointed it at May.  
“Stop your nonsense, Yoen!” Nivaet angrily snatched the dagger from him in one smooth move. “The only way to prove one is a Royal is with the DNA matcher, not a portal opening!” She shoved him out of the room. “Calm yourself and clear your head out there. Not every Royal will be guilty of killing your former partner.” He pushed her hand away and glared at May before storming off.   
The three females watched him walk away punching the walls.   
The sheep girl turned her head towards May. “My name is Triangle, Tri for short.”  
“My apologies for his behavior. Ever since his old partner was killed in combat a few years ago during the feud, he has been angry at everyone,” Nivaet apologized on his behalf.   
“It’s alright. It’s hard to lose someone close to you,” May sympathized.   
The three of them went back to the table. May sat down.  
“My ancestors created the DNA matcher. Actually they didn’t but some other genius scientists did. Let me see your hand.” Tri excitedly pulled out a compass looking thing, full of gears, and grabbed May’s hand. A hole opened in the middle of the compass, expanding it to look like a giant ring. Tri grinned and pulled May’s hand through it. “When ready to use, push this button and wa-la, it opens up like a ring! Truly one size fits all.” The device settled on May’s wrist. Mechanical twirling noises could be heard as the gears shifted. Parts of it expanded out to cover her whole hand. After a few more clicks, it paused.”This is the fun part!” Tri’s nose twitched excitedly. Nivaet only watched quietly.   
“Ow!” May yelped. Sharp small needles pierced her fingers. May jerked back her hand but couldn’t do anything as the thing covered her hand. Nivaet and Tri both flinched at May’s sudden movement. Suddenly the noise dwindled down and everything quickly shifted back to its original form. May tilted her wrist down so that it fell onto Tri’s hands, completing its cycle. Once off, May examined her fingers. No blood was seen.   
They stared at the DNA matcher for a moment. May looked at the two of them who just went quiet. Tri was lost in thought.   
“Well, she is not a Royal, but I’ve never seen it react this way before,” a confused Tri finally broke the silence. “It never goes back to its original form unless the release button is pressed. It didn’t recognize your DNA.” Tri looked up at May. In a quiet voice, Tri said, “You’re not one of us.”  
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” A glint of anger flickered in May’s eyes. “I don’t belong in this world! I came here by mistake, and I am definitely not a Royal. I don’t have dark skin or horns.” May mimicked two horns on her head.  
“That goes without saying then. The DNA matcher has not been wronged all this time identifying who one is. Stay here for a moment,” Nivaet said as she motioned Tri to follow her out.  
May sat back down and sighed, examining her fingers again. ‘I’ve been getting finger pricked a lot since I’ve met these people… My poor fingers...’ May pressed a finger to see if blood would squeeze out. After a few moments of hard presses, nothing. May sighed again and looked around the room. One big window that doesn't show the other side, bright lights above, a table, and two chairs. A boring room. May continued to wait for Nivaet to return, but it felt like an hour had passed and no one came back. May was getting restless. She was patient and did her best to keep quiet and still, but the long wait only made her think something wasn’t right. She had completed four rounds walking around the room and counting the steps from one wall to the next, seventeen steps, and twenty push-ups. She was that bored to do push-ups. Finally she decided to open the door.   
No one was outside. “Hello? Nivaet? Tri? Anyone?” May called out to the hallway. Silence filled the air. ‘I have to pee now…’ May glanced at both directions before taking the right side in hopes a bathroom was nearby. She continued to wonder until she finally found what looked like a bathroom. She couldn’t tell if it was gender neutral or not but she went in anyways. Shortly after she entered the stall at the end of the room and relieved herself, a few folks entered and talked among themselves as they used the restroom. May decided to wait them out before exiting.   
“That girl is not from this world. The DNA matcher didn’t know what to do!” A high pitched female’s voice said.  
“Yeah, it has never done that before. I wonder if it was broken,” a raspy voice said.  
“It can’t be broken. I just used it the other day to test the vampire out who turns out to be a Royal,” Tri’s voice answered. “She is something else. Not a Royal, not one of us, but not one of the Tinters either.”  
“Definitely not a Tinter. Their horns are magnificent but the most defining features are their hands. Bigger than others. The girl’s were small weren’t they?” Tri murmured an agreement before the raspy voice continued. “The Tinters are the current rulers. Royals will perish the moment they are found. This feud has been going on for a long time.”  
‘Tinters? Bigger hands? Like Butú’s family? They mentioned ‘feud’ again. Did I just get caught in something I shouldn’t have?’  
“The girl may not be a Royal but could actually be of the ancient kind. I have heard rumors that only the ancients can make the DNA matcher retract on its own,” Tri said. “Everyone is looking for the ancient ones. I wanted to keep her for research, but the higher ups are saying to kill her to avoid any conflicts between the two bloodlines.”  
May’s heart started to pound at the mention of “kill her”. They weren’t planning on letting her leave after all.  
“I’ve heard the stories! Both Royals and Tinters are searching for ancients. Apparently an ancient’s blood will give them great powers. More so if a child is born of ancient blood,” the high pitched voice added. “The poor girl though. She seems so young to be killed. What are you going to do, Triangle? Fake her death and use her for experiment or actually kill the evidence?”  
“Faking and using for testing sounds great. Yoen is here though, so I would have to be very careful if I fake it. He will kill her before I get my hands on her. He knows.” Tri’s voice faded away as they left the bathroom.   
May shivered at the thought of being used for experiments. Definitely not something she wants to be a part of. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a rustling noise enter the room again. A shimmering noise filled the room and then bright lights popped out before dimming down. May held her breath.


	10. Run X

"Hmph! What ignorant rodents. Of course I won't kill the girl. I need her blood." Tri sounded completely different now. Her voice faded into a raspy voice just like the other girl but not as deep. The shimmering noise faded into a steady hissing noise. "Tell the master I have found an ‘ancient’. Tell him I will fake the girl's death. She would be a great asset."  
'Tri is a fake! And I am still going to die!' May covered her mouth so she wouldn't make a noise.  
"Yes, commander," a deep voice answered. "Here is the potion to maintain the sheep's appearance. Arctic said this is the last bottle and to hurry up with the mission. The sheep will die soon. The potion will no longer be affected once she's dead."  
"Tell Arctic he needs not worry about me. I know what I am doing!" Tri snapped and left.  
May has never felt so heavy before. She was trembling, at a loss at what to do. She thought Butú's was bad but this was worse. 'If I want to live, I must escape from here and find help. Or tell Nivaet of the fake... Or Yoen to prove my innocence. I feel like it is a trap. Why would I discover a fake so early upon arriving in this world? It's not even my world! Runaway it is!’ After a few moments, she collected herself and carefully walked out of the bathroom. She vaguely remembered an exit door on the way to the bathroom and headed for it.   
Surprisingly there were not many guards. May just have to wait for a few minutes for them to move on to the next hallway. After some time, she finally made it back to the Transport. She thought for sure she would be found missing from the room, but no one panicked. She moved over to the closest stand and quickly peeked over to see what it was. ‘A clothing stand!’ She snuck inside and found herself a dark blue cloak. As she put it on, she saw a black lower face mask and also put it on. ‘Now they can’t see my full face.’ She crawled out from the back side and went left towards the other end of wherever the strip is. She had to cross over many cables before she reached the end. ‘Huh, they are mythical beasts who use electricity.’ Once she got out of there, a group of cloaked folks also walked by. She joined them from behind and followed them wherever until she found a way out of the building.  
As they kept walking, May noticed that many of these creatures seem to be higher class. They have that aura of higher class people. They looked more defined. More gallant, some snobbish. Their outfits were fresh and clean. Every now and then she could see some lower class and she could tell. Their outfits weren’t as clean nor as sharp. It was duller in color and instead of silky looking suitcases, it was made of fabric. They typically stayed on the outer edges of the area. The middle class was harder to distinguish since they can blend in on both sides.   
After several turns throughout the Transport, she finally saw what looked like a door. She left the group she was following and went through the door only to reach a balcony. They are on a cliff! And it’s dusk! There are no roads or cars or trucks or buses at all that could be seen below. It is filled with trees and mountains. In the far distance, it looked like there is a lake. A small dot of blue in the far horizon. ‘How amazing! It is like I’m at the mountains! This is beautiful! If only I had my phone, I would take a picture of it all but I lost it in the struggle of getting out everywhere.’   
She walked around the balcony for anyway of getting down without killing herself, but couldn’t find any. ‘How do they get from one area to the next then? There’s no vehicles anywhere and I don’t actually see any planes in the air either…’ The realization of portals being the key of their main transportation suddenly hit her. ‘Oh wait! They use portals!! That’s right! If I can find one home, I can get away!’  
She went back inside the building and started walking around to find a sign about “Earth” or something similar, but all the boards and signs they had were in a completely different language. ‘Of course it won’t be this easy. This is a completely different world after all. Hahaha.’ May chuckled for a bit.  
She continued to walk around looking at everything with interest. Most of the similar kinds of creatures used the same portals while others didn't. Every now and then they do mix into one but she assumed it was for business since their outfit seems too formal for a casual visit. Smaller portals would become larger for the larger folks. The one she saw was for a group of rabbit looking creatures with wings but they were about the size of a regular wild rabbit that can be seen often outside in the wild. A dog looking creature followed one rabbit in and the portal stretched far enough to fit the dog creature. Really amazing. Like how does the portal know what size of a creature is coming? Aside from the portals, there were stalls of merchandise everywhere along the walls and in the open middle areas. The merchandise looked like everyday essentials and food for every kind of creature. The payment seemed different for every species too. Some paid with trades while others had coins in gold, silver, and bronze. Only very few used paper like currency, but it came from super high top folks. They looked rich! And of very high status! She tried her best not to stare at them.   
She had completely forgotten what she was looking for when she noticed two tiger looking guys following her. She suddenly remembered that she is a wanted criminal for trespassing. She looked back at them and they stared her down. They talked among themselves when sudden movements around her changed. Two lizard-like creatures walked toward her from the right while three others of unknown life forms in white cloaks from her left headed her way. The two tigers twitched their ears and she could tell it was a signal. They’ve locked onto her. She turned to flee only bump into an old tengu couple. They looked angry and said something she couldn’t understand. She knew she was in trouble. She apologized in English hoping that since it was a universal language from her world, they’d pick it up at some point in their lifetime. The female tengu started yelling and pointing at her. Made a big scene as more creatures stopped to see what was going on. May tried to apologize again while keeping an eye on where the guards were. They were closing in. May then realized she did understand them after all. They were angry because they needed to go home as soon as possible but since she bumped into them and created the scene, they are now late.   
May responded after the female tengu paused for a bit to catch her breath, “I may have bumped into you and apologized, but it was you who created the scene. And I am sorry sir for bumping into you. I am in a hurry as well and must be on my way now. I really am sorry for bumping into you.”  
She made a turn to his right to get away but he grabbed her and screeched into her ear. She quickly pulled her arm back to cover her ears. ‘What the heck was that for?!’ She felt like her head was going to split open. It was so deafening. She just looked at him in confusion once his screeching stopped. He was puffing but looked quite happy with himself. He was then slapped hard on the head by the other tengu who had one hand over one ear. She started screaming at him in even more anger. Everyone within earshot had covered their ears as well. Not everyone had recovered from the screech either, so she took this chance of a pause to make her escape.   
The guards all shook their heads to clear the ear splitting sound away. Before they knew it, May was gone. They shifted their heads immediately in all directions but May was nowhere in sight.  
May headed for the nearest doors. She went through several turns and several double doors before stopping in the last room she entered. The moment she opened the doors and got inside, the refreshing smell of laundry mixed with very bad odor overwhelmed her. She had to pause for a moment to steady her sense of hearing and smell. Once she collected herself together, she opened her eyes and inside the room, slimes of all shapes and sizes and color surrounded her along with many clothes and sheets. ‘This is the laundry room of the Transporter. Washed and cleaned by slimes??’ May looked at them in astonishment. They looked at her in the same way.  
“Uh, hi guys. My name is May and I need help. I am being chased by some officers due to a misunderstanding. Can you guys tell me how to get out of here?” May finally spoke after a few moments of awkwardness in the air. No one had moved during that time. Not even a water droplet could be heard.   
One of the slimes nearby, semi clear with a tint of red, moved forward and, with a new arm of sorts coming out of its body, pointed to the back doors. Heavy footsteps quickly came from behind the doors. May looked back and saw some heads were headed straight for them. She quickly headed for the doors but knew she couldn’t make it. There were too many laundry and slimes in between. A slime then quickly pulled her into its body and wrapped a blue bed sheet around her. May was shocked at the sudden stuffing. She poked her head out of the slime to breathe but the slime kept pushing her back in. Her glasses slipped off after the second time of getting pushed back in. The slime then grabbed another sheet when the loud bang of doors opening made her quickly duck back in.   
With muffled noises and no vision, May could only pray that the guards don’t inspect the slimes and that her glasses didn’t float upwards. What felt like hundreds of years passed finally came to a stop when the slime pulled May out. May gasped for air before realizing how sticky she was. She smelled of soap but felt slimy all over. ‘Yuck!’ She looked around and no guards in her blurry sight. She thanked the slimes and grabbed her glasses from its body before heading for the doors. Slipping and sliding, she pulled the cloak off and tried to squeeze the soap out. The slimes continued to watch in silence. Another slime nearby tapped her shoulder and indicated her to enter it. Quite exhausted she paused for a moment and looked at each slime carefully. Each one seemed to have a specific job. The slime she was in before is the “soap” slime for blue colored fabric, it had a semi transparent bubbly filling with a tint of blue and green; the one in front of her now is the “water” slime, filled with what looks like water.  
May walked in front of the water slime and it pulled her along with her cloak. It was warm, like a bath. After a few rounds of being flipped in all directions and going through several loops, May was pulled out soaked. She had let go of the cloak during the spins but held onto the glasses. Again, May gasped for air. Her head was dizzy from all the spins and no air. When she looked up, she was three slimes away from the original water slime. They tunneled her through each separate slime to get clean water to wash off. She thanked the slimes; they bowed their heads and jiggled in acknowledgement. May looked at them in confusion. It felt like she had communicated with them in some odd way but she clearly didn’t hear them speak. May hazily tried to walk in the direction of the doors but couldn’t. ‘I’m too tired. I need to sit and breathe and rest.’ May went towards the edge of the wall and saw an empty pole. She put the cloak on it as she sat down to rest.  
A small, refreshing breeze blew down to her. May sat still and enjoyed the breeze. This is where they dry the laundry. Some of the slimes went back to work. The ones nearby just stared at her as if waiting for something to happen. She didn’t pay them much attention and placed her glasses back on. A few moments passed by before a sudden gust of wind blew her up from where she was. May let out a shriek and landed quite hard on all fours. Luckily the area she landed on was full of wet, soapy, and sticky bed sheets, waiting to be washed. She looked up in shock from the air lift. If her hair wasn’t ruffled before, it sure was now. Her hair tie had somehow flown off. She flipped her hair up but parts of the hair stuck to her face and tangled with her glasses. The slimes all jiggled in laughter. It sounded like a bunch of liquids swishing.   
“Think that's funny, huh? It scared me! I thought I was going to be blown away!” May puffed as she pushed herself up. She tried to move her hair out of her face and neck when another gust of wind from a different direction blew onto her and she went flying away again. The slimes continued to jiggle in laughter. May, annoyed, got up and untangled her glasses, [and pushed the nearest slime in the direction of the next gust of wind] or [and went towards the nearest slime to push it in the direction of the next gust of wind]. “Oh yeah? You have a try at it!”   
It went flying in all directions as if it exploded. Many pieces of soap bubbles filled the air. Some of the slimes nearby and May got hit with its body parts, sticky and soapy. May stared in shock ‘Did I kill it?!’ All the jiggles stopped in shock as well. The pieces of the exploded slime all squiggled together slowly before forming its full self again.   
“I’m sorry!” May bowed and apologized quickly. The slime came forward, huffed, and pushed her back into a gust of wind, sending her straight back into the exploded slime. She poked her head out, bubbles formed around her making her look like Santa Claus, long beard and lots of white hair. More jiggles, harder this time, could be heard and seen. Some laughed so hard they fell down. She, too, busted out laughing. The exploded slime could hardly pull her out with all the jiggling it was doing. Everyone laughed for some time before settling down again. May got another wash and proper drying before bidding farewell to the laundry slimes.


	11. Run XI

A cool breeze blew over. By now it was late in the evening. The sky was high and a crescent moon appeared every now and again. Being in the middle of nowhere, there sure was a lot of traffic outside. Several portals lined up. There were lines of folks waiting to enter in one way and enter the other. Leaving the building and entering the building. Where May exited out from, it was away from the crowd. No one would notice that she was there if they just glanced her way.   
‘Where are the roads? I don’t see any,’ May thought to herself as she stealthy hid in the shadows of the trees. She blended in quite well with the cloak.   
She slipped away from the guards who were circling around the folks exiting the building. At one point, one of the guard’s ears twitched in her direction. She stood very still until his attention was distracted when someone made a fuss. Any hooded ones got their hoods pulled off. Some weren’t happy about it.  
As quietly as she could, she continued to venture further into the dark woods. She couldn’t see where she was going but the flash of light from the faded moon was enough to show some routes to take. Not even three minutes into the woods, May tripped over something and fell half way down. She clung onto a nearby tree and froze. An alarm rang from the building. May quickly turned her head over. About seven small doors opened between the doors she exited from and where the main exit doors were. Several small rabbit looking creatures came out of the doors. They wore a strap over their backs. Some of the things they carried looked like guns, big nets, ropes, and swords. Others had on a special mask, ones you see when they enter a fire building or spraying pesticides but cooler. The first to exit sniffed the ear before moving its ears in her direction. The guards from the crowd started marching towards the rabbits. She dared not move but a red light suddenly flashed above her indicating which alarm was broken. Her heart jumped out of her body. She was caught! Motions were given out that May couldn’t make out as she started to run as soon as she saw the ears point in her direction.   
She didn’t care how loud of a racket she was making, blindly running away from the building. The rabbits would be able to hear her regardless of how quiet she was. It didn’t take the rabbits very long to catch up to her. She could hear the small shuffles of footsteps. Heavier ones weren’t too far behind either. May stumbled on roots and shrubs. As if running away wasn’t hard enough, a glimmer of white caught the corner of her eyes. She dodged to her side and the tree next to her was wrapped by a net. More glimmers shot past her. Some were nets while others were bolas. At one point a sword flew at her. Luckily the woods were heavy with trees and shrubs to block most of the attacks. She got caught with one of the bolas but quickly got out of it by taking off her cloak. The bola got one of her legs and a tree. She quickly took her shoe off and grabbed the other end of shoes as she tried to put it back on. She left the cloak behind. It was much too tangled.   
One of the rabbit creatures popped out of nowhere and almost tackled her. She had quick reflexes. She swung her shoe and sent the rabbit flying in the opposite direction. More of the rabbits attacked her. She continued to dodge them and run but that lasted only another fifteen or so feet.   
Before she knew it, she suddenly fell down through a hole. May was slapped with many roots and dirt. Her glasses caught on a root and dangled there. She tried to grab it but couldn’t. Luckily all the shaking and rolling down caused the glasses to lose balance and it fell off from the root. She only hoped it would land wherever she was. As she put her glasses issue behind her, she tried her best to protect herself from the roots, but scratches appeared everywhere on her body already. Her butt and back were warm from sliding down the rough dirt.  
A glimmer of light appeared at the end of the hole. She popped out and flew straight down into a pool of water. The combination of cold water and losing air made her struggle to swim up. Her sense of direction was all messed up. After flailing about for a few moments, her energy was swept away as if a current pushed her down hard. She allowed the water to push her to wherever it was taking her. Just as she was able to pass out, a cool breeze touched her head. She knew immediately she was at the surface and pushed her head up for air.   
After several gasps of air, she looked around her. Bright and lushful greens surrounded her in the blue light of the crescent moon. Trees layered the back in the shadows. Fireflies floated around freely, giving the area more light.   
May was enjoying the view when she heard giggles. She turned her head towards the sound but nothing was there. A splash was made behind and she whipped her body around but still nothing. More giggles could be heard but it came from several directions.   
“Hello?” May asked the giggles.   
Silence.  
May waded herself to the shore. Just as she felt the ground below her, something slid in front of her legs. She backed away in surprise. She tried her best to stay still. The something went behind her and brushed her calves. She could feel her heart thumping more and more as the creature slid about her. She was getting scared as she didn’t know what was there. More giggles interrupted her freight.   
“Look how scared she looks,” a whisper could be heard.  
“Not scared, terrified!” Another whispered back and then giggled more.  
“Stop scaring the child. Momar! Quit that and bring her here!” A deep, powerful voice from the shadow emerged.   
May turned to the voice and appeared before her was a man. Since she didn't have her glasses, she couldn't make out his details. He waded in the water to get closer to May. May stared back, thinking how awkward his walking looked. May’s attention was quickly diverted when something dragged her out of the water. It grabbed her waist and pulled her to shore. It was a young man, who seemed to be in his teens. He was reluctant to help her to shore.   
Soon as her feet landed on the muddy dirt, he quickly turned away and shouted back to the older man. “She has two legs! Her waist is fat and she’s not a very good swimmer, either!”  
The silent giggles came back. May irked at the word ‘fat’ about her body. She blushed slightly.   
The older man was shot with a sudden embarrassment from the boy. “Stop your yacking, Momar! Don’t embarrass our guest! Get out of here, you ungrateful brat!”  
Momar made a ‘bleh’ noise and splashed out of sight. More giggles followed and a few more splashes could be heard. May thought she saw several tails swim under but brushed it off as nothing since everything was blurry and dark.   
“My apologies for my son. He is young and doesn’t know better,” the man apologized to May. “My name is King Sei. What is yours?”  
“May,” she answered back, wading closer to King Sei to get out of the water. “Where am I?”   
May was finally able to make his details after a few steps. She was still calf deep. She quietly gasped. He looked to be in his thirties but also could be in his early forties. His face was very well defined, handsome for an older man; his blonde hair curled around him; he was shirtless and had an awesome set of eight abs, but below his waist was not legs but a fishtail!   
“You are in the mermaid realm. How did you get here?” King Sei inquired.  
“Oh! So I wasn’t seeing things. I thought I saw tails go under the water but since I can’t see well, I thought my vision was playing tricks on me.” May smiled big. Her heart thumped faster under all the excitement that mermaids are real. “And I don’t know exactly how I got here. I was being chased by some rabbits and guards from the Transport. I was running in the woods when I slipped through a hole and landed in the water and then flowed down here.”  
The King looked deep in thought at the mention of “transport”. “The transport… we don’t have a portal that connects to the ‘transport’ in this area. Can you tell me where it is?”  
“Um, maybe? I don’t actually know where since I was underwater the entire time until just a few moments ago. I also lost my glasses so I couldn’t tell you anyways. Everything looks almost the same.”  
“Glasses? What is that?” A female’s voice from the shadow asked. She came forward to stand beside King Sei. May couldn’t make out her features. A cloud covered the light from the moon and the fireflies weren’t enough for May to see without her glasses even though she was close by.  
For the first time she noticed her arms were stinging a bit as she moved them up to her face to imitate glasses, but she didn’t look to see what were the causes. “They go around my face like this and have glass in the two circles. It is a slight blue color, actually, more of a teal green color for the frame. If you look through them, you may not be able to see because I don’t have very good eyesight. Right now you guys are a bit blurry, and if more of you appeared, I would only be able to tell the difference from the clothing and tails you have.”  
“Hmm, so your lack of vision is causing you to lose memory?” The female inquired.  
“Oh, no, no, no. I don’t lose memory because I can’t see. I can’t see so I don’t know where anything is at,” May explained. She thought it was common knowledge to know what glasses are but with these magical realms, maybe they don’t lose vision since they can just heal their eyesight or whatever.   
“Well, I have never heard of anyone losing vision before, nor have I seen these ‘glasses’ you are referring to,” they lady responded. “Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Queen Web.”  
A few quick splashes hurried by. “My King and Queen, my apologies for interrupting but I saw several rabbit hunters and guards from the Transport by the East Stream. They are armed and dangerous.” A young male mermaid spoke quickly with great concern.   
May could smell blood but wasn’t sure where it was coming from until she saw him holding his left arm. It was bleeding a lot.   
The young man noticed that the king and queen were eyeing his arm as well. “First scout is currently interrogating them but enroute to warn your Highnesses, they attacked me.” He lowered his head in disappointment.  
“Those are the ones that were chasing me.” May spoke before anyone else could. “It is me who they want. Do you have any way to send me somewhere else so that they’ll leave you guys alone?”  
“Once they have your scent, they will not stop. To make matters worse, they have your blood,” King Sei answered.   
‘Blood? From where?’ May checked her arms and noticed the many streams of blood flowing down. It was the first time she actually noticed her scratches and some were definitely bigger and deeper than others. ‘This would explain why I felt so many stings…’  
“Your blood is quite different from any I have smelled before. It will be quite easy to find you regardless of where you go if you continue to bleed.” The king responded after a moment. “Second scout, follow me to the East Stream. We will stop these intruders and seal the portal from which they came from. My Queen, take care of this young May.”  
“Be safe, my love,” the queen gave him a hug.   
The king pointed his finger at someone and motioned for them to come. That someone swam to the bleeding messenger. He pulled out a bottle and opened it. A faint smell of medicine filled the air. He poured the medicine onto the wound. After a moment to let it set, the healing mermaid chanted something and with his hands near the wound, a green light lit around his hands.   
‘It’s magic healing powers! They have magic!’ May watched with great interest. Her excitement could not be described in words. She tried to hide her smile best she could, but a grin managed to pop out.   
After a few moments passed, the wound disappeared as if it was never there to begin with. The healer nodded his head to the king. The king nodded back and motioned his hand to everyone else. He quickly left with the healer, the messenger, and several other mermaids who emerged from the shadow.   
May watched the army swim away in the darkness. More clouds covered the sky and small water droplets fell down. As the rain hit her skin, she shivered. ‘How funny to shiver when I’m already wet.’ May turned around to face the queen and she motioned her to follow her. May got out of the water and limped the rest of the way on dry land. The queen stayed waist deep in the water before coming out with bare legs. ‘I thought they don’t have legs… ‘   
“You’re wondering why I have legs, aren’t you?” The queen asked.  
May nodded, “Yeah, from your son, I thought you guys don’t have legs.”  
“We all have a walking form but we cannot maintain this form for long. It is much easier to move with legs in dry areas.” She chuckled and walked on.   
More mermaids appeared from the shadows. Each of them walking in the same direction. May continued to follow silently. She examined her arms and legs. There seemed to only be five really deep cuts. Three on her right leg, one on the left, and one on her left arm. It didn’t affect her walking in any way but she could feel her body throbbing everywhere. After a while, her arms, legs, and face were getting numb from the wind despite all the scratches she received from the hole. Each step became slower and slower. She looked down as she continued to trudge along. Her head throbbed the most and she was having a hard time breathing. Pretty soon, her vision was blurrier than before. ‘Am I sleepy? I don’t feel like sleeping though. And this headache… It hurts so much. And I am so cold and out of breath. Are we on a hill? What is going on?’ May tried to keep up as hard as she could. She could barely manage to look up. She decided to take a small break and used a nearby tree to hold her up.   
Right as she touched the tree, the queen turned around.   
“Oh my, you don’t look so good, dear,” she sounded concerned but the look on her face said otherwise. Her eyes glowed a sharp blue. “Rey, grab the - ”  
May didn’t hear the rest. Her vision went black. She lost her balance and fell down.


	12. Run XII

Rune busted into May’s room.   
“Get UP!” She angrily pulled May’s blanket off. “We are LATE!!! AGAIN!”  
May flicked her eyes open to see an angry Rune. “What?” She asked as she slowly rose up from the bed. “Late for what?” She blinked several times at Rune in confusion.   
“Our graduation! We were late for our high school graduation, so you said you wanted to be there early this time! But nooo, you just had to oversleep and make everyone else late! We came to wake you up since 6 am! It’s now 9! The ceremony starts in an hour! We’re supposed to be leaving now, not waking up!” She sounded more and more angry as she moved her arms around.  
May’s eyes began to close again at the mention of graduation. She yawned and stretched her arms out. “Rune, what graduation? I haven’t been in school since I graduated about three years ago.”  
A girl with bright red hair popped out from the door. “What are you talking about, May?”  
May fully opened her eyes when she saw her and looked around. “Wait… you’re alive?“ She said in an almost whispery voice, but loud enough for the girls to hear her.  
“Alive?” Both girls questioned.  
May slowly looked around the room again. Her heart thumped. ‘What the… this is my old room when we were college dorm mates!’ She quickly got to her feet and looked out the window. ‘That’s the college gates! And it is spring?? What is going on?’  
The red-haired girl and Rune watched her in confusion. Rune’s puffs of anger had waned.   
“What year is it?” May asked.  
“2014. Why? Are you okay?” The red-haired girl answered. She looked at Rune for answers. Rune just shrugged.  
“That can’t be. It-it’s 2018. Fall of 2018.” She walked up to them and started stuttering, moving her hands frantically. “We- you, you died, Ari! Three years ago!” May’s heart dropped. The two girls scowled in confusion. “I-I moved out of here with Rune and I got two jobs and Rune’s friend and my friend moved in with us later. Earlier this year, I-I got chased by some dudes in black suits and, and then I got kidnapped yesterday, or the day before, and transported to, to another, another-” she paused for a moment, as if she was lost in thought, “-world...”  
Rune interrupted May, “Whoa, whoa, slow down, May. What are you talking about? How did Ari die when she’s still here? How did you even get kidnapped when you were in bed all night long?”   
May looked at her and then at Ari in disbelief. “This isn’t real.” She pinched her cheeks hard but felt the burn on her cheek. “No, no, no. This isn’t happening.” May walked around the room again, rubbing her cheek. “I-I-I don’t believe this. I mean, if I came back in time and don’t have to deal with the chasing and kidnapping and Ari is alive, then great! But that means I left the magic world behind. And, and none of that happened. I-I sound like a crazy person!” She looked at her roommates. “You guys think I’m crazy don’t you?”  
“Uh… right now, yeah. You’re actually scaring me. Saying I died and all that... What are you even talking about?” Ari shook her head and took a deep breath. “We graduate in an hour! You need to get ready!” Ari threw May the baby blue graduation gown that was on the chair.  
May looked at her sadly. “Ari, you can’t go to the graduation. I-I don’t know why I know this.” She paused, thinking hard of what to say next. “But you can’t go. Trust me, you can’t go.” May started to tear up. She walked over to Ari and hugged her tightly. “You can’t go, Ari. Someone is going to kill a lot of people today and you’re one of them.” Tears flowed down May’s face.   
Ari and Rune were flabbergasted. They didn’t know what to make of this situation. May, the girl who never cries unless she was reading or watching something, is crying and acting crazy as if she just came back from the future. Ari patted May’s back. “There, there, I’m here and I’m fine! And there are guards everywhere! How could I get killed?” She smiled wearily.   
Rune just watched silently, unable to grasp what was happening.   
May continued to cry silently for a few more moments, hugging her friend tightly. Suddenly she felt wet. May opened her eyes and looked at her hands. They were covered in blood. She pushed herself off Ari. A heavy weight fell over May. She looked at Ari’s face that was now covered in blood. Several holes appeared on the baby blue graduation, and blood seeped heavily out of them, quickly turning red. Her skin slowly dried up as she spoke. “See? I’m still alive, May.” Ari said in a croaked voice before blood spewed out of her mouth. Several drops splattered onto May.  
May gasped and backed away from Ari. Rune was nowhere in sight. The room turned to the graduation stage. May was at her seat, center of all of the students. Screams and explosions filled the air. Heavy smoke covered the skies and burned her nostrils. She looked around, students bled here and there. Some already dead, many covering their heads or each other, screaming and crying. Some try to run away before getting shot. Families, watching their loved ones on stage, all scrambled to leave the bleachers either to get away from the scene or go into the mess to grab their loved ones out.  
May felt like she was in a real dream. Bullets flew towards her and she braced herself for the pain. But nothing happened, as if time stopped. She opened her eyes and saw the bullet that was headed straight for her head going in the opposite direction. Everything was now moving very slow. More bullets came in her direction but would suddenly bounce somewhere else within a foot of her, as if a force field shielded her. She was shocked by what she saw from the bullets.   
‘This is why I didn’t get hurt. The bullets never did hit me.’ May recalled.  
May looked back at the stage. ‘Ari!’ Most of the administration staff on stage had already fallen over, dead. Ari was still alive, covering her ears, closing her eyes, screaming at the sudden deaths, just standing there waiting to be hit. May took advantage of the slow motion around her and ran as fast as she could to the stage. Using her hands, she pushed all the bullets within reach heading towards Ari like snowballs. Within a few feet of reach, as if she triggered a bomb, time resumed to normal. The few remaining bullets just barely out of reach shot straight into Ari’s body. Ari was knocked back a step before her body laid on the bloody stage. Her lifeless eyes dropping its last tears as she looked at May.   
May didn’t know what to do. She climbed onto the stage and swooped down to Ari’s bloody body. “No, no, no, no. Ari. Ari! Wake up! You can’t die! Ari, please!” Tears flowed heavily down her face. May tried her best to stop the bleeding to no avail. May looked at Ari’s lifeless eyes. Pain struck her chest. She closed her eyes and clenched her chest, crying over her friend.   
“If only you didn’t come here, I would still be alive!” Ari’s voice echoed into May’s ears. She quickly opened her eyes to see that she was no longer at the graduation and Ari’s body had disappeared. It was pitch black. Ari’s voice repeated the words in anger. May kept turning her head in search of her but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. Suddenly a white glow caught the corner of her eyes. She turned to see a ghostly hollow Ari. She didn’t have any eyes and her skin was dried to her bones. Her graduation gown, dyed in dry blood, showed how she died. Her mouth opened again. “You killed me! I died because of you!”  
“No, no, no Ari. Ari, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” May shouted back. She reached for Ari but Ari only continued to haunt her with the same words as she floated away from May and disappeared into the darkness. “Ari! Ari! I’m sorry! I didn’t know! I didn’t know!” She gave chase but couldn’t ever reach her. Finally she gave up and dropped to all fours in sadness, confusion, and anger. The tears didn’t stop.


	13. Run XIII

“Oh my, would you look at those tears falling down her face! It must have been tragic!” A sweet voice spoke, almost delighted.  
“I told you not to do that, mom! It hurts those who have already been through it once! Now she’ll have to relive it again and remember her painful past again!” Another voice spoke. She sounded a lot younger than the sweet voice from before.  
The mother only chuckled before saying seriously. “She needed this. She blocked this from her mind and thus, does not know who she is. Once she awakens, cheer her up.”  
“Ah, wait! Mother!” The daughter’s voice faded away as she chased after her mother.  
May opened her wet eyes. She could feel the back of her neck was drenched in the recent flood of tears from her. Her throat was dry, her nose was stuffed with snot, and the back of her head was throbbing from crying so much. Her body was heavy. She lifted her heavy body up and looked around. It was a warm room. Bright sunlight filled the room from the many open holes in the ceiling. The bed was soft. Very minimal items were in the room - two tables, three chairs, several shelves, and what appears to be a cabinet in the corner.  
‘Ari… I’m so sorry Ari…’ May didn’t know what to think. Several tears continued to fall. She was lost in her thoughts. ‘I seem to have a shield. If I knew it back then, I could’ve given you the shield. But why do I have a shield? Why don’t I know about it? And now that I think about it, I don’t remember much of what happened afterwards. Police, firefighters, ambulances, and many other people came. Those who were still alive and could walk were taken out first. Anyone hurt was carried out. All the dead stayed behind until everything was cleared. I went to the hospital... Everything happened so fast but I went to the hospital but it was different. Yeah, I remember being taken a different route and… was it a hospital? It looked like one but why does it feel different?’  
She held her head, trying to remember what happened but her thoughts were interrupted when the young girl huffed as she returned to the room. “Damn Mother! Always leaving me for the clean ups!” She looked up and noticed that May had awoken. “Oh! Hello! How are you? I’m Riang.” She said in a cheerful voice.  
May stared at her with no reaction.  
“Okay. You must have a lot of questions. One at a time. Ahem. This is the MerWorld. We are mermaids and you came here from a hole at the East Stream. Queen Mother here cast a ‘truth’ spell on you while you were on your way to the village. It is also used as a protection to knock you out so you can’t tell others where to find us, but it was too great of a burden as you didn’t even last ten minutes since the spell was put in place. Meaning you’ve been hiding something. Something great. Usually it takes longer before the effects take place, and normally one doesn’t pass out, just hallucinates. You’ve been asleep all night and most of the day. Dusk is on the horizon despite this beautiful sunshine. We usually have longer sunlight during the hot weather. Cold weather we have less sun. But, everything aside, any questions?”  
Silence. May stared at her blankly before looking elsewhere.  
“Okay. Do you want to eat something?”  
The question didn’t pass through May’s mind. She couldn’t think of anything. Everything that was said went through one ear to the next. She kept quiet and looked at the flap that leads to the outside. Riang followed her gaze.  
“Would you like to go outside?” She pointed to the entrance.  
May continued to look at it without answering.  
“I’ll take that as a yes. Come. Let me help you up.” Riang supported May as she got off the bed and staggered to the door. “You have to be careful. Your body is still healing from the fall even though I’ve already healed all external wounds. Mother told me you had vision loss. I can help you with that if you’d like.” Riang glanced over at quiet May. “Just let me know when.”  
Before her eyes laid a vast blue lagoon. Small wooden huts floated on top of the water. Giant green lily pads lined up to make a walkway for those who decided to walk with human legs instead of swimming with their tails. They walked down from where they were at towards a bigger one in the center. Many other merfolks were heading that way as well. Fireflies filled the air along with some blue balls of fire, lighting their way. May looked at a blue flame closer when she got near one. It appeared to be a cute creature taking a nap. Almost like a mouse but with wings and no long tail, only a stub.  
“Those are ‘blu-nas’.” Riang said when she noticed May taking an interest in the blue flames. May looked up at Riang. “During the day their blue flames disappear as they can blend in with the sunlight. You will hardly ever see one in the sunlight. They have an almost translucent body, so at night their outlines glitter at everything. The blue flames are to protect them. It looks intimidating and it spreads a lot quicker than normal flames, but it doesn’t hurt. It’s mostly just a visual to scare away predators. We’ve made use of them as a source of light in exchange for protecting them from hunters.”  
“Hunters?” May asked for the first time since she woke up. Riang looked a bit surprised but smiled gently as she explained during their walk towards the big hut.  
“Hunters abuse the ‘blu-nas’ for their blue flames ability. If you put them together with regular fire, the flames become very real and very dangerous. It will burn almost anything it touches but the ‘blu-nas’ only live for a very short time once it is exposed to fire. It’s body can’t handle the real flames so it gets burned alive. Such sad endings to such beautiful creatures.” Riang gently stroked the back of one as it yawned and shifted its position.  
May stared at another. Looking up and down. “How do you keep them afloat?”  
“We make a thin layer of water for them to rest on and with our abilities, keep them up. We have several places around the area where the ‘blu-nas’ go and lay on the top of the water and it’ll automatically lift up and float somewhere. I don’t know who controls this but it’s been this way for as long as I can remember.  
So we are headed towards the big hut for our evening meal! It is also our daily gathering. We only ever meet up at night. My father and mother will be there and they can explain more things once we’ve arrived. Oh, and my little brother. I heard he was rude to you. My apologies on his behalf. He is still young and carefree. He is a great hunter, but also a great pain in the tail. He is always coming back with scratches from his hunts. It’s like he wants to find everything in one go when he should only be hunting for what he needs and not more! I mean it is good to have some extras but don’t go taking too much either!”  
May drifted away from Riang’s ramble and entered her own thoughts as she looked around the surroundings. It was like walking through a fairytale. Everything looked magical and fake. The tall cattails, the dragonflies, the blue flames, the water, everything was too beautiful. ‘It’s beautiful here. So quiet and peaceful. A mix of both worlds in one place.” Sudden laughter perked May’s ears as she turned to see a group of children racing each other to the big hut. ‘Yup, definitely peaceful.’ A smile appeared on her face before disappearing again when she remembered where she left off on her thoughts from earlier.  
‘The hospital looked like a regular one but the doctors weren’t. I remember only one woman who took me in and took me straight to see that guy. I think she drugged me. She said… something about awakening, having to suppress my memories of the event or at least make it more believable and some dude said it was time I knew the truth… that I carry the ancient bloodline and need to learn how to control my abilities if I have any like the shield...’ May gasped as she remembered the ladies talking about the ancient bloodline in the bathroom. It was something special and the fake Tri wanted her for that bloodline.  
“May? May! We’re here!” Riang’s voice broke May’s thoughts again. “Isn’t it beautiful? That’s where we are going to sit.” She pointed to where the king and queen were. “Mother will be delighted to see you’re awake. Let’s hurry!” She pulled May along before May could say anything.  
Many of the merfolks nearby murmured among themselves at the sight of May. Many eyes followed her as their hands and mouths stopped moving. May felt somewhat awkward.  
“Mother, Father, I have arrived with guest May.” Riang bowed down before them and May followed suit, not knowing if she was doing it right or not.  
“We are glad to see you have awakened. You must be hungry. Sit next to Riang and enjoy the meal.” Queen Web pointed to two open spots for them to take.  
May nodded and followed Riang.  
“This is my favorite!” Riang pulled up a leaf bowl that looked like pudding. “It’s super sweet so I eat it last! We call it ‘lush’!”  
Riang continued to name off the food they offered but all May could think of was how some of them looked weird and inedible. She looked around at how the other merfolks ate and followed suit. Riang watched May as she took her first bite and smiled when May was surprised at how good it was.  
“This isn’t bad actually. Tastes good,” May said after a mouthful. “What is this?”  
“That, my friend, is Leaf Waste Tod! A classic dish to every meal! Not really but it goes well with almost anything.” Riang put on a smug face as she continued to talk about the dishes they have.  
‘What weird names…’ May thought to herself as she continued to eat.

“Ah, I am stuffed!! I don’t think I can walk anymore. Imma swimmmm.” Riang plopped into the water, causing very minimal splashes.  
“How’d you do that, Riang?” May asked after observing Riang going into the water.  
“Do what?”  
“That. You going down into the water with hardly any splashes.”  
“Oh! Well, when you’re a mermaid who has been with water all your life, you just naturally slip into the water with hardly a sound. I think it has to do with how you slip in.” Riang got out of the water with her tail and demonstrated. “Like tail or feet first, but at an angle. Here you try it.” She moved out of the way to clear the spot she was just on.  
“I don’t have any extra clothes to change into,” May responded.  
“Don’t worry. I have extra clothing for you. The sun will be up soon anyways so the clothes will dry. Here, here. Try it.”  
May looked at the sky. It was dark and filled with sparkles, indicating it was still very late at night. She looked back at the water and crouched down to touch it. It was cold like any stream would be at night. “It’s cold.”  
“You get used to it. We don’t mind the water as much unless it gets a lot colder than this. Like ice. Our bodies aren’t built for the glaciers like the Northern Merfolks are but we can adapt quickly. Our scales change according to the temperature but it takes some time to adjust.”  
May nodded in acknowledgement. She took her a step back so she could sit on the edge and attempted to slip in just Riang did.  
SPLASH!  
May pushed herself up and wiped the water away from her face. “That didn’t work!”  
Riang busted into laughter. “Oh that was so funny! That’s too careful! Here try it like this!” She went to the edge and turned her tail into legs. “Watch closely. I switched to legs this time.”  
May moved a blu-nas over to Riang’s direction and also moved closer for a better look. At an angle again, she slipped into the water with very little splashes.  
“Huh… it looked the same as when I tried it... I think... I’ll try again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will end the posts here for now until I have more. If you would like to read the next chapter, please go to Wattpad or Webnovel of the same title.  
> If you've read it this far, what do you think so far? I know it was a slow start... xD


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